It’s FALL!!! Fall! Fall! Fall! Fall!
I spied my first sight of fall leaves at our park the other day and nearly jumped with joy!!
Oh! I love it so much!! I have to say it again!
FALLLLLLL!!!!!!
The air is crisper, cleaner. Out come the comfy sweaters; in go the dreaded bathing suits. The kids are back at school. Hooray!
And we can’t forget the wonderful foods that return with Fall — apples, pears , brussels sprouts, root veggies, squashes. All so comforting and delicious on chilly autumnal nights.
Most nights in the Fall and Winter, I use my slow-cooker. I throw everything in and let Old Trusty do the work for me. It’s a savior when the after-school activity schedule gets the best of us.
So I do a lot of soups and stews — and I made one of our family’s favorite Crock Pot meals this week: Butternut Squash Soup.
Slow-Cooker Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients:
- 1 butternut squash (on the medium-large side)
- 1 apple (I used red delicious), peeled and chopped
- 1 box of chicken stock, low-sodium (veggie stock works, too)
- 1 can cannelloni beans, rinsed and drained
- about a 1/4 cup of diced sweet onion
- about 1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
- cumin, to taste
- nutmeg, to taste
- salt and pepper, to taste (I use white pepper)
- croutons (optional)
Get To Work:
- Pierce the squash with a fork several times all over and microwave it for 2 minutes. Check it to see if the shell is starting to get soft. If so… you’re good. If not, nuke it another minute at a time until the shell gets soft enough to peel with a veggie peeler.
- While the squash is in the microwave, saute onion and garlic in olive oil on your stove top.
- Peel the squash, scoop out the seeds, and cut the squash into 1-inch cubes.
- Put the squash, apple, onion, garlic, beans, chicken stock, cumin and nutmeg into the slow cooker.
- Cook on low for 4 hours.
- Use an immersion blender to mix it all up.
- I like to serve with croutons… and a side salad and some bread. (on this particular night, I didn’t have crusty bread. So I served it with some dumplings I had in the freezer.)
There are never complaints at our table when I make this. Everyone loves it.
And I particularly like that the cannelloni beans become a hidden ingredient in this dish. They add protein to a veggie dish and make it creamy without the added calories of cream. It’s my favorite trick to use in soup recipes that call for cream.
It’s a standard meal in our house especially on busy, chilly, fall nights.
Enjoy this wonderful time of year!!!
Happy eatings!
Sharon