Easy Squash Soup

It's a cold, dark day today, and I have a snuffly husband on the couch - a perfect day for soup! Digging around this morning, I discovered I had several varieties of squash hiding away in the dark corners of my cupboard under the stairs. One of them, I have no idea what to do with. It looks like a giant yellow pattypan. I think my darling husband picked it up at a local farm some time ago....

Picture this, but the size of a dinner plate.

Anyway, for this soup I am sticking to the old standby acorn squash.

First, preheat your oven to 400*.  Wash 1 acorn squash and 1 large sweet potato. Puncture them both with a knife and roast them for 1 hour. ( I use foil or parchment on a cookie tray for easy clean up). Cool for 15 minutes or so for easier handling.
Heat a large pot on med/high heat with a bit of butter, avocado oil, or another high heat oil.  Chop 2 carrrots, 2 garlic cloves, and 1 small onion and saute them in oil until softened.
Add about 3 cups of chicken stock and your peeled and seeded cooked squash and sweet potato.
Stir in a dash of cayenne, a pinch of nutmeg and a sprinkle of curry powder.  Bring to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes or until all the vegetables are soft.
Add more chicken stock or water if it looks like it might be too thick.
Blend soup with an immersion blender, blend in batches in the blender, or mash with a potato masher until desired consistency is reached.
Serve with a good dollop of sour cream or garnish with parsley or parmesan cheese.

Everything in the fridge soup

This really is a whatever you've got soup..

Ingredients:

2 small yams, peeled and chopped
4 med. beets, chopped
4 carrots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 zucchini, chopped
5 brown mushrooms, chopped
1 cup green lentils
1 tbsp fresh rosemary
1 tsp fresh oregano
a pinch of thyme, sage, savory, Italian seasoning,fennel seeds, herbs de Provence, basil
1 tbsp butter
8 cups water

Method:

1. melt butter in a large pot on medium heat
2. add chopped vegetables and saute for 8 - 10  minutes
3. add garlic and herbs and stir for an additional 2 minutes
4. add water and lentils and raise temperature to bring it to a boil
5. turn the heat down to med/low, put a lid on, and simmer for 45 - 60 minutes or until lentils are soft.

Serve with buttered toast or with leftover rice, quinoa, pasta etc.  and top with black pepper or parmesan.

( We sometimes call this mushy soup because the yams, carrots and zucchini usually get very soft.)