Curried Butternut Squash Soup

This is one of our favorite cool weather recipes that we discovered last year. It's so nutritious and fills your tummy with warmth and comfort!

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (2 1/2-pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• A pinch of pumpkin pie spice, if you have it on hand
  
• 2 tablespoons honey

Directions

Heat oil over medium heat in a 6-quart stockpot. Add onions and garlic and saute until soft but not brown, about 6 to 7 minutes. Add the butternut squash, broth, curry powder, and pumpkin pie spice, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until squash is tender, about 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat stir in honey and puree with an immersion blender or in batches in a blender until smooth.

Kale Soup

We found this recipe last fall and it is one of our favorites now! It's easy, healthy, and really tasty!

1 TSB olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 cups chopped fresh kale
4 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1/8 tsp crushed dried thyme
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp pepper
1 15-oz can white beans (cannellini, white kidney, etc), drained and rinsed
4 1/2-inch think slices french bread
1/2 cup shredded Fontina cheese

Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, and mushrooms and cook and stir 2-3 minutes. Add kale; cook 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add broth and bring to a boil. Stir in thyme, pepper, and nutmeg. Stir in beans. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer 20-30 minutes or until kale is tender.

Preheat broiler. Place bread slices on baking sheet and top with shredded cheese. Cook under broiler 1-2 minutes until cheese melts. Serve bread slices on top of soup.

No Meat Chili

This is my mom's recipe for chili, which is my favorite chili recipe ever. I actually don't like chili with lots of meat, only lots and lots of veggies! So this has a lot of beans for protein instead of meat. This can also be made in a crock-pot. Yummy, healthy, comfort-food.

1 15oz. can red kidney beans

1 15oz. can Great Northern beans

1 14oz. can diced tomatoes

1 8oz. can tomato sauce

3/4 cup green pepper, chopped

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

2 cloves of garlic, minced (or equivalent of garlic powder)

Drain and rinse beans. Do not drain tomatoes. Saute onion and garlic in a bit of butter for five minutes. Put all ingredients into large pot*. Simmer over medium/low heat until green peppers are soft, approximately 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. The longer you let this simmer, the tastier it becomes.

*This picture is chili made in a crock-pot instead of over the stove. We just put it on low all day, and it turned out delicious!!

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

1-2 TBS olive oil or butter
About 1/2 of an onion, chopped
1 carrot, sliced
1 red potato, or 1/2 of a russet potato, peeled and cut into large cubes
About 15 oz. of roasted red bell peppers, drained (not rinsed)
About 3 1/2 cups of chicken or vegetable stock (low sodium)
Pinch of sugar

Sautee the onion and carrot in olive oil or butter in a large pot over med-hi heat. After a few minutes when the veggies are soft, add the broth, potato, and peppers. Bring to a boil, then down to a fast simmer. Cover partially and simmer for 25 minutes or so, until the potatoes are tender. Add a tsp or so of sugar. Pour soup into a blender (in batches if needed) and blend it up (or use an immersion blender if you have one). Pour back into the pot and serve!

This is a great meal because it is a creamy soup, but only because of the potato, not because you add cream! And you get lots of vitamin C from the peppers and onions, B6 from the peppers, and A from the carrots. Next time I think I might try not peeling the potato and seeing if it all blends together all right, because all the potato vitamins are in the peel!

Homemade croutons:
We made croutons by cubing up some regular bread (we used whole wheat here, before we have used french bread), and putting them into a non-stick pan with some hot olive oil. Heat over medium to med-hi heat until they get crispy (at least 5 minutes).