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      • Buffalo Chicken Dip
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      • Thai Peanut Sauce
    • Beverages >
      • Blueberry Lemonade
      • Cosmopolitan
    • Breakfast >
      • Apple Pancake
      • Homemade Granola
      • Peanut Butter Cup Smoothie
      • Stick-to-your-ribs smoothie
      • Veggie Omelet
      • Yeasted Waffles
    • Main Dishes >
      • Beef Stew
      • Chicken Fajitas
      • Choley
      • Grilled Chicken
      • Low and Slow Chicken Breasts
      • Roast Turkey
      • Rub for Pulled Pork (and other meats too!)
      • Salmon Burgers
      • Simple Homemade Mac & Cheese
      • Simple Red Sauce
      • Steak and Potato Salad
    • Sides >
      • Bacon-Roasted Brussel Sprouts
      • Creamy Polenta
      • Homemade Potato Chips
      • "Magic" Salad Recipe
    • Soup >
      • Apple Cheddar Soup
      • Butternut Squash Soup
      • Chicken Noodle Soup
      • Creamy Tomato Basil Soup
      • Smokey Beef Chili
    • Sweets and Treats >
      • Almond Cake
      • Apple Crisp
      • Bruna Kakor
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you can cook

butternut squash soup

Picture

Ingredients

1/4 pound of bacon
1 small-medium butternut squash
1 medium onion​, chopped
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 sprig with 5-6 fresh sage leaves (substitute 1 tsp. dried if you don't have fresh)
4 c. low sodium chicken broth
3 Tbs. sherry
1/4 c. half and half

To serve:
Crumbled bacon from above
Sour cream, if desired

Directions

1. Peel the butternut squash, either by cooking it (see below) or using a peeler. If you use a peeler, cut the squash into 1/2" cubes.
2. In a stockpot over medium heat, fry the bacon until crisp and set aside on paper towels. Discard all but 1 Tbs. of the bacon fat.
3. Add the onion and sugar to the bacon fat and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is tender and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sage leaves and cook one minute more.
4. Add the chicken broth and squash, and simmer 10-15 minutes if squash is pre-cooked or 30-45 minutes if squash is cubed (until squash is tender).
5. Remove the sage and reduce heat to low. Add the sherry.
​6. Using an immersion ("stick") blender, puree the soup until smooth. If using a regular blender, puree in batches with the blender no more than 1/2 full.
7. Serve with crumbled bacon and sour cream on the side.

Makes approximately 5 main dish or 10 appetizer servings.

Good to know

If you can get your hands on an organic or farmstand squash, this is a great way to prepare it! This soup plus salad and loaf of crusty fresh bread make a fresh and tasty meal.

Butternut squash can be difficult to peel. Two recommended methods:
- Use a palm peeler like the chef'n peeler here. Because the peeler is in your palm, you have more leverage and it takes less effort to peel a butternut's thick skin.
- If you have time, cook the squash first. Cut it in half and remove the seeds. Place cut sides down in a 9x13 pan, add an inch of water, and cook at 350 until squash can be pierced easily with a fork, about 30 minutes. Cool and scoop squash from the skin, discarding skin.

Sage is a pretty but tough perennial plant with soft textured blue-gray leaves that grows well in a pot. I have sage, thyme, chives and mint in pots on the driveway between my two garage doors, easily available from the kitchen.

Instead of peeling off slices of bacon to estimate a 1/4 pound, try cutting through the bacon and the plastic packaging crosswise, creating very short strips that are 1/4 of the length of the full slices. You can more accurately estimate the amount and you don't get your hands as dirty - just dump the short slices into the pan.