Squash & Veggie Soup

I love fall. I love the weather, the scenery, and the food. It's such a comforting time of year. Be warned, after this post, there will be an onslaught of pumpkin posts (soup, muffins, cookies, oh my!)

But for today, the focus is on Squash & Veggie Soup. I found the original recipes on one of my favourite sites, ohsheglows.com. There it is titled Luxurious 7-Vegetable and "Cheese" Soup. It's kind of a mouthful and definitely scary if you aren't a vegetable fan. I mean, seven vegetables? Let's not get excessive and point that out. For you non veggie fans, you will notice fewer veggies in my version...mainly because I realized I didn't have sweet potato once I had started. Oh well.

Anyway, I made a few changes and thought I would share the changes with you. First things first, I divided the recipe in half and then I went from there.

Ingredients

• oil (for sautéing)
• 2 cups of onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup of celery
• 1/2 cup of carrots
• 3 1/2 cups of broccoli florets
• 2 cups of butternut squash
• 3 cups of vegetable broth
• 2 tbs of soy parmesan
• dash of chili pepper, crushed chili pepper flakes, cinnamon

Directions

1. Chop and sauté the onion and garlic in a large pot over medium heat.
2. Add celery, carrots, broccoli, and squash as you chop them. Sauté for a few minutes.
3. Add veggie broth and squash. Simmer for 15-20 minutes until the squash softens slightly.
4. Remove from heat and allow to cool significantly.
5. Add the soy parmesan and other spices. Stir gently.
6. Using a blender, blend the mixture in small batches.
7. Return all smoothly blended batches into the pot to stir together (and reheat).
8. Serve and enjoy.