Our first fall leaves of 2013

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:

1. 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.
2. While the squash is in the microwave, saute onion and garlic in olive oil on your stove top.
3. Peel the squash, scoop out the seeds, and cut the squash into 1-inch cubes.
4. Put the squash, apple, onion, garlic, beans, chicken stock, cumin and nutmeg into the slow cooker.
5. Cook on low for 4 hours.
6. Use an immersion blender to mix it all up.
7. 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