Butternut Squash Soup

A few years ago, I hosted Thanksgiving for the first time for a very small group - just my parents, hubby's parents, and the 2 of us.  At the time I was in a small apartment and just starting to practice my cooking skills, which led to a menu including an overcooked turkey breast, stuffing made from store-bought cornbread that was not much of a hit, and my basic smashed potatoes.  But the star of the evening was a recipe I found for butternut squash soup on Epicurious that tasted so decadent and yet was so easy and healthy!  Everyone was amazed that this soup wasn't loaded with butter and cream.  When I made it that first time for the holiday, I also made the fried sage leaves that Epicurious recommends, but have since decided that they're not really worth the effort. 

The only hard part of this recipe is peeling and cutting a butternut squash, so my solution has been to wait until I see pre-cut organic butternut squash at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods and seize the opportunity!  But this is also a great option if you have a butternut squash sitting on your counter that you don't know what to do with.  I have made it twice already this year and am hoping to make one more batch before the squash are out of season, although I also bought some canned squash puree and plan to experiment substituting it for the fresh.  I will keep you posted on how that goes, but in the mean time, if you see that pre-cut squash, pick up a couple of packages and make this soup!

Butternut Squash Soup
adapted from Epicurious

1 tablespoon butter
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
1 2 3/4-pound butternut squash, halved, peeled, seeded, chopped (or about 2 lbs pre-cut)
5 cups low-salt chicken broth
1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan or romano cheese
Salt and pepper

Melt butter in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add onion; cook until soft, stirring occasionally, about 7 minutes. Add chopped sage; stir 1 minute. Add squash and broth. Increase heat to high and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until squash is tender, about 25 minutes. Puree soup right in the pot using an immersion blender, or cool slightly and puree in batches in blender until smooth. Mix in cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Do ahead: Can be made 1-2 days ahead and refrigerated, or frozen well in advance.

Makes 8 bowls

Lentil Soup

Something that makes me very happy is having a freezer stocked with home cooked, ready to go meals.  I actually have a dream about having a walk-in freezer one day that's full of things I've made!  Well, maybe not a walk-in, but a freezer bigger than the apartment-sized one I have now :).  Some foods lend themselves particularly well to freezing and reheating, like muffins (as I've already talked about many times), and soup.  I like soup a lot and it has the potential to be really healthy, but prepared soups can be incredibly high in sodium and scary ingredients (hydrogenated fats, preservatives, flavor enhancers, etc).  So recently I decided to see if I could make my own soup at home so that I could control the ingredients and add it to my freezer stockpile.

My first stop was lentil soup.  It is delicious, and so full of fiber, protein, and veggies, making it a perfect lunch or light dinner with a big chunk of bread.  Plus, I've been looking for ways to eat more legumes.  I have a bit of a hard time with beans in general, but am starting to find some ways to work them into my diet.  First stop was chili, and lentil soup is also something I really enjoy - maybe it's the small size of the lentils or the fact that they break down so much in the soup?

I found the original recipe on Epicurious and made some changes based on the reviews to make it more flavorful.  The end result is delicious, easy to make, freezes well, and has gotten good reviews from everyone I've served it to - doesn't get any better than that! 

Lentil Soup
adapted from Epicurious

1/4 cup extra–virgin olive oil
2 medium-large onions (approx 4 cups)
2 cups celery
2 cups carrots
4 garlic cloves
8 cups low sodium, fat free chicken or vegetable broth (read ingredient lists on broth - some of them have the scary ingredients we're trying to avoid by making soup from scratch!)
1 16 oz bag red lentils (approx 2 1/2 cups), rinsed and drained (I have also used green lentils - the color isn't as pretty and the cooking time is about double, but the end result was just as delicious)
1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes in juice
2 teaspoons cumin
Balsamic vinegar*
Parmesan or romano cheese

Heat oil in a large pot over medium–high heat.  Chop onions, celery, carrots, and garlic in a food processor and add to the pot.  (As a side note here, on one occasion I added broccoli and cauliflower to the veggie mix because I had it around and was looking to use them up, and the soup still came out great, so feel free to add whatever veggies you like!  You just may need to add some extra broth if it gets too thick.)  Sauté until vegetables soften, about 15 minutes.  Add broth, lentils, tomatoes with juice, and cumin and bring to boil.  Reduce heat to medium–low, cover, and simmer until lentils are tender, about 25 minutes (or about 45 for green lentils).

At this point you can either call the soup finished, or if you prefer a thicker consistency, use an immersion blender to puree the soup in the pot to your liking (recently I've been pureeing entirely; hubby prefers it chunkier).  Alternatively, you could transfer some of the veggies to a blender, puree, and add back to the soup.  Lightly season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve the soup with a splash of balsamic vinegar and a sprinkle of parmesan or romano cheese.

Makes approx 12 bowls of soup

*In my opinion, the balsamic vinegar really makes the soup.  But if you choose not to use the vinegar, you may want to season with a little extra salt and pepper to make it stand on its own.