philljm posted
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Butternut squash soup: - I actually treat it like my chili- it's whatever I have on hand. I also don't really use measurements, because again, my soups, like my chili - is of the "dump" variety. I prefer lotsa meat & veggies, less broth....
I actually bought a package of butternut squash already cubed from Costco. I prefer the "real" thing - the flavor is better, but right now they are pretty expensive. Peel and de-seed and cube.
I then take all that cubed squash, put it into a ziplock bag with a bit of olive oil, and shake it altogether. Then I roast it at 350* stirring every 15 minutes until tender. Depending on the sizes of the chunks, it can take from 30 minutes +.
Then I start browning the chicken. The original recipe calls for chicken thighs, and I prefer dark meat, so I buy the big packages of deboned, deskinned thighs from Costco & use 1 or 2 sections of the package. I have also used leftover chicken, broasted chicken etc. I season that - currently I use a mixed seasoning - but it depends on the flavors I am trying to bring out.
While the squash is in the oven, I chop up more veggies. Last night I also added onion, portabella mushrooms, green pepper and garlic. Dump them into your now olive oil coated plastic bag & shake. At the 15 minute mark, I stir the squash, and add the rest of the veggies.
I use a large sauce pan and pour in 32 oz of chicken broth. As the chicken is cooked through and chopped, I add it to the broth. Then when the veggies are tender, I dump them in too. Simmer until the flavors blend, and you have soup!
Since I had some cooked bacon, I also added that last night. Then because I was experimenting, I took a small amount as I was refrigerating the leftovers, and added a handful of craisins. I will let you know later how that tastes.
I also use this same base recipe only with sweet potatoes and italian sausage (I like the hot - it goes great with the sweet potatoes) If using sausage links, remove the casings, cut into smaller pieces then brown. If using ground sausage, I make small meatballs then brown - I purchase whatever is cheapest. Then I rinse my sausage in hot water to remove excess fat. My sweet potato soup I make pretty spicy. This butternut squash recipe is a milder soup.
The original recipe uses 1/4 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp coriander, 1-2 TBS lemon juice and as a garnish some fresh cilantro. I used a mixed spice (Penzey's Bangkok seasoning) + pepper & a small amount of coriander.
For the sweet potato recipe, I add chopped kale at the end, then serve with parmesan cheese. I also use Penzey's Berbere spice, a hot spice.
Neither of these are my original recipes, they are adapted from recipes I found.
