Monday, November 16, 2009

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

This is an adaptation of a recipe that Shuaib recommended we cook at the first Team Grondul Thanksgiving. If you follow the link you'll see that the original called for butter and heavy cream...fine for a Thanksgiving treat, but not so great for everyday. I swapped the butter for olive oil and the cream for lite coconut milk to health it up...now it's a healthy fall treat! Yay!

Ingredients

  • 4.5 Tsp. olive oil
  • 1/2 large onion, chopped
  • About 2 lb. butternut squash peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 3 cups low-sodium chicken stock (you could certainly use vegetable stock instead to make it vegetarian)
  • 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped
  • Pinch of nutmeg
  • 1 cups lite coconut milk
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

In a large soup pot over medium heat, heat the oil. Add the onion and sauté, stirring occasionally, until tender and translucent, 4 to 6 minutes. Add the squash and stock, bring to a boil and reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the squash is tender when pierced with a fork, about 20 minutes. Add the apples and nutmeg and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the apples are tender, about 15 minutes. Using a food processor or a blender, puree the soup in batches until smooth. Return the soup to the pot, stir in the coconut milk, and season with salt and pepper. Warm gently as needed.

8 comments:

  1. As much as I'm all about the butter and heavy cream, coconut milk in squash soup actually sounds really good. I may have to try some variant of this...

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  2. I think it does add something...somehow it complements the sweetness of the squash and the tartness of the apples. I was worried it would taste funny, but I really liked the way it came out.

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  3. I thought it was quite tasty, too. The dramatic reduction in fat and cholesterol is nice, too.

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  4. Anonymous8:31 PM

    Sigh, poor lost Heavy Cream. Reminds me of when Michael and I debated the merits (or lack thereof) of skim milk in college. Tom: "Skim milk = colored milk." Michael: "2% milk = prepackaged artery clogging." Rinse repeat, for four years.

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  5. Anonymous8:32 PM

    Very appropriately, the "anti-spam" mystery word I had to fill in to make the last post seemed to be a phoenetic spelling of "mayonaise" ...

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  6. I recognize that sigh!

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  7. Anonymous8:33 PM

    err, earlier comment shoulda read "colored water." Need more practice at the blog contributing business it seems.

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  8. Good recipe. I will try this recipe. Really I like eat in ice creams butter squash and in fruits apples. Really amazing recipe. Thanks for share.

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