Thursday, March 14, 2013

squah soup and good behavior

so, at christmas santa gave me a cuisinart immersion blender, because i had been very good.  sadly, this particular santa was not my husband, who instead gave me a really fancy yarn bag- also because i had been very good.  (i think the real explanation is that i am incredibly sneaky and fooled em.)  i have really taken to my lovely silver blender, and i can tell you that it makes really amazing guacamole, and with its attachments whisks like a pro and makes hummus.  i am pleased.  the best thing it does- the very very best thing, is to make me blended soups like i had never dreamed possible. 

i had been sitting on cloud nine, my blender and me, when i stumbled across yet another wonderful thing, this time at costco.  in case you're wondering, all good things come from costco.  i found, in the produce section, prepackaged butternut squash cubes.  i have always wanted to make butternut squash soup, but have been too daunted by the work involved in cooking, peeling, and cubing the squash that i never attempted it.  and now?  now, costco has done the work for me, and all i have to do is cook it up and blend it.  i even only have to dirty one pan, and that is the best news for everybody in my house.  (i think it is the job of the person who enjoyed the meal but didn't cook it to clean up, and my boys think that i intentionally dirty every pan in the house to make them suffer.  they're on to me.)

so i made this recipe.  it's gluten free, and in its original state dairy free as well.  you could sub out the chicken stock and put in veggie, and it would be vegan.  takes about thirty minutes, which is really nice when you just want to eat and not mess with fancy.  tastes good, too.  serve with whatever you personally think goes with soup- i liked sesame rice crackers and a nice cheese. 

1 package butternut squash from costco- i would guess about 2 lbs
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic or to taste, diced
6-8 cups chicken stock  (i used water and chicken base- 2 tablespoons of base)

brown the onion and garlic in oil til tender.  add the squash and stock, and cook for about 30 minutes or until the squash is really soft.  this time varys.  check on it occasionally!  once the squash is tender, puree using an immersion blender, or blend in batches.  then season with:

2-3 tablespoons curry powder (or to taste, kids don't always like this taste)
1-2 tablespoons honey or real maple syrup
1 teaspoon thyme
salt and pepper

let cook for another little bit to thicken up if you added too much broth (this does happen, just cook it down) and then serve with whatever you think is tasty.  i think plain greek yogurt would be the best thing in the world to top this soup, but it's darn tasty by itself too.  enjoy!  and if you haven't got one yet, be very good and have santa send you an immersion blender.  it's worth the sacrifice.