Day 178 - Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Why, hello Autumn! So glad you dropped by...

My mind turns to warm and comforting foods once the mercury ceases to climb to it's summer highs. Soups, stews, chili and toasted sandwiches begin to grab my appetite's attention. As I mentioned yesterday, while I was perusing the produce aisle at the grocery store I saw a wonderful display of butternut squash (amongst others) and immediately thought of soup. I love thick soups, and squash does a great job to create a thick, hearty soup without needing cream for body (unless you can't do without it, I'm learning).

Some suggest 1-2 Tbsp light brown sugar for sweetness.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

4-5 1 cup servings (depending on squash size)

• 1 large butternut squash, seeded peeled and cubed
• 1 1qt box of vegetable stock/broth (I like the low sodium kind)
• half of a large sweet, yellow onion, sliced
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• fresh ground nutmeg
• pinch cinnamon
• salt and white pepper to taste
• pinch dried sage (or fresh if you have it laying around)

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees; line a baking tray with aluminum foil and mist with cooking spray (Pam)
2. Peel your butternut squash, remove the seeds and cut into 1 inch cubes. Spread the cubes evenly on the tray. Bake for approximately 45 minutes, until fork tender.
3. Heat olive oil in a 2 quart sauce pot over medium heat; add sliced onion and cook until translucent and deep brown, stirring frequently.
4. Once squash is roasted, place squash and onions into a food processor and blend until smooth. Add one cup of vegetable stock while processing. (If you don't have a food processor, you can use a standard blender, a handheld blender, or a hand mixer. If it isn't as smooth as you would like, you can strain the soup through cheesecloth).
5. Pour soup back into the sauce pot and return to medium heat. Add 2 cups of vegetable stock, sage, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Stir frequently until soup thickens a bit. Add remaining vegetable stock to achieve desired consistency.
6. An interesting (and optional) serving suggestion: garnish with crushed Amoretti cookies. Yum!

(For Weight Watcher's this is 2Points Plus per serving (I do not use the nutritional information for the squash in this recipe--I count it as a 0 PP vegetable.). This does not include the crushed Amoretti cookie garnish... By my approximations, one full Stella D'oro Amoretti cookie as garnish would yield 5 PP.)

In other news... Yesterday was not a good day. I made bad, bad food choices. I made conscious choices to over-eat in response to stress. Cheetos Twists, chili, pizza and spoonfuls of home made apple butter do not mix well. I had to sneak onto the scale this  morning for a bit of a reality check... Let's hope I stay below 200.

Tomorrow: Apple Cinnamon empanadas : )