Butternut Squash and Red Bell Pepper Soup

This is a recent recipe I tried out as part of my butternut squash obsession (see Butternut, Ginger, and Shallots Soup; Bacon, Butternut, and Kale Penne; and Beef Tagine with Butternut Squash).  I have a bunch of old recipes to post, so I try to intermix them with the new but I wanted to post all the butternut squash ones now since it fits with the season.  

Anyways, I got miserably sick recently and the thought of eating any solid food with my scratchy throat just didn't appeal to me.  I came across this recipe that was originally for a pumpkin soup, but I modified it for use with butternut squash.  Now having made it, I can see how this would be really yummy with pumpkin.  I'll definitely have to try it out next fall with pumpkin!  

Warning: the use of bacon in the toppings means that if you have any dogs they will be lurking in the kitchen looking as pathetic as possible.  

I couldn't even close my pantry door because any time I tried to, Sunny's fat butt got in the way and she'd make this sad lil grunt but refused to look up or move.

Servings: 6 (but if you're eating this as a meal, more like 3)

Ingredients:

Soup

3 cups butternut squash, peeled and chopped

2 1/2 cups red bell pepper, chopped

1 1/2 cups sweet potato, peeled and chopped

1/4 cup green onions, chopped

1 teaspoon five-spice powder

1 teaspoon cumin

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 teaspoon minced garlic

3/8 teaspoon salt, divided

5 cups low-sodium chicken broth

Topping

1 French roll, toasted and crumbled

1/4 cup parsley, chopped

3 tablespoons sliced almonds, toasted

4 slices turkey bacon, cooked and crumbled

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• In a large bowl, combine 3 cups butternut squash, 2 1/2 cups red bell pepper, 1 1/2 cups sweet potato, 1/4 cup green onions, 1 tsp five-spice powder, 1 tsp cumin, 2 tsps olive oil, 1 tsp minced garlic, and 1/8 tsp salt.  Toss well until all ingredients are mixed.  Or you can be lazy like me and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, throw all the ingredients on there and then mix it around by hand.  This way you don't need to wash an extra bowl afterwards.
• Spread mixture in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes or until tender, stirring once.
• Combine vegetables mixture, 5 cups chicken broth, and 1/4 tsp salt in a large pot. 

• Bring pot to boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
• While pot is simmering, toast 1 French roll (or a piece of French baguette) and 3 tbsps sliced almonds.
• Crumble the toasted bread, almonds, 1/4 cup parsley, and 4 slices of cooked and crumbled turkey bacon.

• Once pot of soup has finished simmering, blend the soup either by doing it in pieces in a blender or using a hand blender.  Blend until smooth.

• When ready to serve, pour soup, top with bacon mixture and salt and season to taste.  Enjoy!

• Oh and I forgot the last part - feed extra bacon pieces to your sad, begging dogs! 

This is a great creamy soup that doesn't use any dairy to get its creaminess.  You can vary the toppings depending on your preferences.  Like using rosemary, instead of parsley, or doing a cheesy topping instead.  Since I'm a bacon fiend, this was a natural choice for me.  If I had had yummier bread on hand I would've used that, but I always have French rolls in the kitchen (or in the freezer).  You can definitely taste all the components of the soup, so if you're not a sweet potato, red bell pepper, or butternut squash fan, then you may want to tweak it according to your tastes.

I think I have Sunny and Rosy well trained by now that they know if they stand in certain spots when I make weird noises and point they'll get treats eventually.  Sometimes they are stubborn but today they did a pretty good job of posing relatively close to the food!

 Inspired by My Recipes.

Beef Tagine with Butternut Squash

I was craving a hearty beef stew recently but didn't want a plain old one.  I wanted something with a kick of flavor and spice and so this beef tagine with butternut squash seemed like a perfect dish to try out.  I think this is when my butternut squash obsession started this winter.  I used a lot of spices in my dish and upped the pepper content because I like my food spicy, but if you don't handle spice as well then cut back on the crushed red pepper.

This is a good recipe to use stew meat but if you have better cuts of beef handy you can use that and just cut back on the cooking time.  Serve this with some brown rice or cous cous and it's an incredibly hearty and satisfying dish!  I'm definitely going to make this again soon!

Servings: 3-4 servings

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons cumin
1 pound beef stew meat (1-inch cubes)
4 shallots, quartered
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 (14.5 ounce) can no-salt added diced tomatoes, undrained
3 cups butternut squash, peeled and 1-inch cubed
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup dried cranberries

Instructions:

• Combine 2 tsps paprika, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 3/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp ginger, 1 tsp crushed red pepper, 1/4 tsp pepper and 2 tbsps cumin in a medium bowl.  
• Add 1 lb beef stew meat and toss well to coat.
• Spray cooking spray (or use some olive oil) in Dutch oven and heat over medium-high heat.  Add the seasoned beef and 4 quartered shallots.  Cook for 4 minutes, until beef is browned, stirring occasionally.
• Add 4 chopped garlic cloves and cook for another minute, stirring frequently.
• Stir in 1/2 cup chicken broth and can of diced tomatoes. 
• Bring mixture to a boil and then cover and reduce heat.  Simmer for 30 minutes
• Add 3 cups butternut squash and 1/4 cup dried cranberries and simmer for an additional 15-20 minutes, or until squash is tender.
• Sprinkle 1/4 cup chopped cilantro and enjoy!

It may not look pretty, but it's super yummy!

I'm so mean, taunting the girls with this super fragrant dish!

Adapted from My Recipes.

Butternut, Ginger, and Shallots Soup

As I mentioned in an earlier post (Bacon, Butternut, and Kale Penne), I recently discovered my love for butternut squash.  I also recently purchased a hand blender (which is ginormous) and so I wanted to try out a butternut squash soup recipe.  It's funny how sometimes a seemingly small and unimportant ingredient makes such a huge difference in a dish.  With this one, I highly recommend that you make sure to include the fresh chives.  This can be eaten either as a meal or in smaller portions as an appetizer.

Servings: 3 servings.

Ingredients:
4 cups butternut squash, peeled and 1-inch cubed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 large shallots, peeled and halved
1/2 inch piece of peeled fresh ginger, thinly sliced
2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup fresh chives, sliced into 1-inch pieces
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• In a baking pan toss together 4 cups butternut squash, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1/4 salt, 4 halved shallots, and sliced 1/2 inch piece of ginger.  Spread butternut squash mixture evenly and bake for 50 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until squash is tender.  Let cool for 10 minutes.

• Either blend in portions the squash mixture in a blender or you can do what I did and use the hand blender in a large pot.  Blend until smooth and then heat in a large pot over medium heat for 5 minutes or until heated throughout.
• Salt and pepper to taste and top with some fresh chives (in the picture below I added just a little bit of chives but soon realized how key they were and added a ton more after taking photos).

Then taunt your pugs with this delicious soup, all in an effort to get some good photos.

Adapted from My Recipes.

Bacon, Butternut, and Kale Penne

I recently discovered my love for butternut squash and so I've been trying out a ton of recipes with it.  In case you couldn't tell already, I also love bacon.  BACON.  And so when I saw this recipe for butternut squash and bacon, I knew I had to make it!  If you love bacon, butternut squash, and kale, then this recipe is for you!

I always modify my recipes to make them healthier if possible without sacrificing too much taste and I think turkey bacon tastes pretty good now so I used that, but if you want to maximize taste then use real bacon and/or add more!  And you can use creme fraiche instead of sour cream.  I use whole wheat pasta because I'm used to the taste and Trader Joe's has some pretty good ones, but if that's not your thing, then go with the regular stuff.

This is not difficult to make but there are a lot of components and you'll have to use lots of pots and pans, which I hate because that just means more washing afterwards.  I would either make this in advance or do it on a day when you have a couple hours before dinner time to spare.

Servings: Original recipe says 8, but for me this is more like 5

Ingredients:
5 cups butternut squash, peeled and 1/2-inch cubed
12 oz uncooked penne (or ziti)
4 cups kale, chopped (or swiss chard)
4 bacon slices
2 cups onion, vertically sliced
1 teaspoon salt, divided
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth, divided
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 cup low-fat sour cream (or creme fraiche)
1/3 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
Cooking spray
1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 400°F. 
• Peel and cube 5 cups squash (or be lazy like me and buy it pre-peeled and cubed).  
• Place squash, spread out evenly, on a baking sheet or baking pan and spray with cooking spray (or you can toss the squash with 1 tbsp of olive oil before spreading on sheet/pan), and bake for 30 minutes until squash is tender.

• Cook 12 oz penne for 5 minutes (I had a 16 oz bag and didn't want to have leftovers so I just dumped the whole bag in and I thought it ended up fine).
• Add 4 cups kale to pasta and cook for 2 more minutes until pasta is almost al dente.
• Drain pasta, rinse with cool water, and set aside.

• Cook 4 slices of bacon either in a skillet on medium heat until crisp or zap it in the microwave according to instructions.  Let bacon cool for a bit and then crumble slices and set aside.
• Either use leftover bacon grease or spray a pan with cooking spray and cook 2 cups of onion for 7-8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add 1/2 tsp salt and 5 minced garlic cloves to the onions and cook for an additional minute, stirring occasionally.

• Bring 1 3/4 cup chicken broth to boil.  While heating that up, whisk together the remaining 1/4 cup chicken broth and 2 tbsps flour in a small bowl.
• Add flour mixture, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper, and 1/4 tsp black pepper to the heated chicken broth.  Cook for 2 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup sour cream (or creme fraiche).

(Try to avoid the pleading stare of any begging pugs.)

• Combine the squash, pasta mixture, crumbled bacon, onion mixture, and broth mixture in a large bowl (it's going to be big so put it in a really big bowl) and toss until everything is mixed together.  
• Coat a 13" x 9" baking pan with cooking spray (I just used the pan I baked the squash in), and pour the pasta mixture in.  
• Sprinkle 1/3 cup shredded cheese on top.
• Bake for 25 minutes until slightly browned.  

• Add salt and pepper to taste. 

•  Now this is the most important step - take any leftover crumbled bacon you have on hand (or saved especially for this purpose) and feed the sad, begging pugs.

Adapted from My Recipes.