Sunday, November 16, 2008

Velvety Squash Soup



The Velvety Squash Soup was REALLY GOOD, and I'm definitely going to make it again! I made several substitutions to veganize it, and I noted the changes in bold. It was super easy to make!

I subbed veggie broth (reconstituted from veggie bullion) for the chicken broth and soy creamer for the half and half. It was delicious, but if I do it again, I'd leave out the salt at the end (or maybe use less bullion). I also don't think the creamer helped/hurt it much, so I could probably leave that out as well.

Also, since I'm lazy, in the future I'd probably just cook the squashes in the microwave for 8-10 minutes rather than waiting an hour for them to bake in the oven.

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Velvety Squash Soup
Yield 10 servings (serving size: 1 cup)


1 (3-pound) butternut squash
1 (2-pound) acorn squash
Cooking spray
2 cups coarsely chopped onion
2 teaspoons canola oil
5 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth [3 veggie bullion cubes in 5 cups water]
2/3 cup apple cider
2 tablespoons molasses [blackstrap molasses]
1 teaspoon curry powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
2/3 cup half-and-half [soy creamer]
Chopped fresh thyme (optional)

Preheat oven to 425°.

Cut each squash in half lengthwise; discard seeds and membranes. Place squash, cut sides down, on a jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray.


Combine onion and oil, tossing to coat. Spread onion mixture onto pan around squash. Bake at 425° for 45 minutes or until squash and onion are tender. Cool slightly. Scoop out squash pulp from skins; discard skins. [Note: It was actually kind of hard to scoop out some of the squash. It may have been undercooked in the middle, so I probably should have left the squash in the oven for an hour instead of 45 minutes. But like I said above, I'll probably just nuke it next time.]

Place onion and squash pulp in a Dutch oven. Stir in broth and the next 5 ingredients (through pepper); bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 5 minutes.


Place half of squash mixture in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid (to avoid splatters). Blend until smooth. Pour into a large bowl. Repeat procedure with remaining squash mixture. Return pureed mixture to pan; stir in half-and-half. Cook over medium heat 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Garnish with thyme, if desired.


Nutritional Information
Calories: 134 (15% from fat)
Fat: 2g (sat 0.7g,mono 0.0g,poly 0.1g)
Protein: 1.9g
Carbohydrate: 28.9g
Fiber: 1.2g
Cholesterol: 0mg

Velvety Squash Soup (Cooking Light, November 2007)

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