Pumpkin Patch and Butternut Squash Soup

picture of the day goes to Brian!

Another fall outing! This time to Wills Organic Orchard....Des Moines ONLY organic orchard!  Mission?  To find the perfect pumpkin to adorn our stoop.  The day is warm for fall and the orchard is busy with shoppers for the season.  We visit with the free range chickens, enjoy sharing an organic apple with homemade caramel sauce and return home with 2 perfect pumpkins! 

Having caught the fall bug I continue the day with making a season appropriate soup. Butternut Squash.  I have ladled the soup under 'eat your veggies' although technically a fruit because it contains seeds, along with its other counterpart, the pumpkin!  Butternut squash is similar in appearance to a large pear. It is nutty in flavor, creamy in texture and rich in nutrition. 

 

BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP  

2 medium squash

1/2 red onion, chopped

1 Tbs minced garlic 

1 Tbs butter 

2 cups stock, vegetable or chicken

 1 1/2 tsp thyme leaves

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper 

pinch of nutmeg

 To taste:  sea salt, cracked pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Pierce squash and bake 40-50 min until tender all the way through. Cool, then peal, remove seeds and cut into cubes. In large saucepan, saute onion and garlic in the butter until onion is soft and translucent. Season with salt, pepper, thyme, nutmeg and cayenne pepper.  Add cubed squash and coat with butter and onion mixture. Add broth and bring to boil.  Reduce heat and working in small batches add to food processor and pulse until creamy texture appears. Return to serving bowls. Drizzle with Greek yogurt and garnish of thyme leave.  

This soup can easily be made vegetarian by using vegetable stock instead of chicken or vegan by eliminating butter and yogurt and subbing olive oil and chopped thyme garnish.  The soup is thick and hearty. The little bit of butter adds the richness it needs to be considered decedent. It really is a fall appropriate soup. 

HEALTH BENEFITS: 

•  Nutrition profile:  1/2 cup serving: 40 calories, 10 g. carb, 0 fat, 1 g. fiber, 1 g protein
• Contains more than 100% of daily serving of Vit A. Vitamin A is known for its properties in anti-inflammatory and high antioxidant profile
• Contains anti-inflammatory omega-3s. One cup of baked winter squash will provide you with approximately 340 milligrams of omega-3 fats in the form of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA).
• Winter squash is a vegetable that might be especially important for us to purchase organic. Recent agricultural trials have shown that winter squash can be an effective intercrop for use in remediation of contaminated soils. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), including pyrene, fluoranthene, chrysene, benzo(a)anthracene and benzo(a)pyrene are unwanted contaminants. PAHs are among the contaminants that can be effectively pulled up out of the soil by winter squash plants.

 www.whf.com