I made these two recipes this week and was reminded how much I love them!  I didn’t get photos of either one, but thought I’d still share the recipes.  

One, Butternut Squash soup is something I haven’t made in years, but after tasting it again this week, think it might be my new favorite comfort food.  Unfortunately the rest of the family doesn’t love it, so I probably won’t make it regularly.  

The second recipe is something I came up with on a whim awhile back and we love it!  And, it’s easy to swap the vegetable for whatever you like.  

Enjoy!

Butternut Squash and Ginger Soup

Ingredients
1/4 c. veg. oil
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
3 medium sized carrots, roughly chopped
1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, peeled & roughly chopped (or 1 tsp. ground ginger)
2 lbs. butternut squash, peeled in 2 ” chunks
1 qt. chicken stock or broth
2 bay leaves
1 c. heavy cream
2 oz. butter
freshly cracked pepper to taste

Method
Sweat (cook without coloring) onion, carrot, ginger and bay leaves in oil.  Add squash, chicken broth and salt.  Cover and simmer 25 minutes.  Remove bay leaves.  In a blender or food processor, puree all ingredients.  Return to heat; add cream.  Add pepper and whisk in butter just before serving.  Garnish with roasted squash seeds.

Variation
Replace 1/2 c. of cream with cider.

*Depending on the starchiness of squash, adjust consistency with extra broth.  

Roasted Cauliflower

Ingredients
1 head cauliflower
olive oil
salt and pepper
Grated or shredded Parmesan cheese
Panko bread crumbs

Clean cauliflower and place florets in a greased casserole dish.  Drizzle olive oil over and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Stir to coat cauliflower.  Sprinkle parmesan and bread crumbs over top and place uncovered in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes, or until cauliflower begins to brown. 

Variation
Substitute broccoli for cauliflower.