Butternut Squash Soup – Thick and creamy but still good for you!

Firstly,  I would like to apologize for my suuuuuuuper long hiatus from blogging.  The last month and a half at the internship have just been insanely busy.  But, on a happy, happy, happy note – 5 weeks to go!!!  I can’t believe I’m getting close to the end – soon I will be able to get a job!!!

Now, onto equally important matters……soup.  More specifically, butternut squash soup.  I know what you’re thinking – did this girl forget that it’s May???  Well no, dear readers, I am not that out of the loop – not yet anyway.  I know that squash is typically a fall/winter food, but who says you can’t enjoy it year round?  Not me, that’s for sure.  This recipe for B-nut squash soup is an oldie, but a goodie.  It’s actually in the cookbook I published in college, except in the book, I talk about using a whole squash and roasting and peeling all the skin off and all that jazz.  But guess what, all that jazz is a lot of work, and right now I’m just too busy for such nonsense.  So today, I present to you the lazy girl’s method of B-nut squash soup.  Easier, faster, and equally delicious.  Behold….

Delightfully Orange.

This soup is soup-er creamy.   Sorry, bad pun.  Anyway, it’s really healthy – that squash provides fiber and beta carotene!  And even though it’s creamy, it’s not made with cream.  I use low fat cream cheese to give it such a thick and rich texture.  Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

2 lbs butternut squash (I opted for the easy method and just bought it already peeled and cubed)
1 medium to large yellow onion, diced
3 chicken boullion cubes + 4 cups water (or 4 cups chicken – or veggie if vegetarian – broth)
1/2 tsp marjoram (the spice, not the butter substitute…subtle difference in spelling/pronunciation)
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/8 – 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (depending on how much you like spicy flavors)
1/2  to 1 (8oz) package of neufchatel cheese (which is the 1/3 less fat cream cheese – use half a package or a whole package, depending on how thick and creamy you like your soup to be)

Method:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread cubed squash on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil (or spray the sheet with PAM first).  Pop that sheet into the oven for about 45 minutes.   It’s done when it’s soft and starting to get browned edges.  You may want to do this step first before proceeding to step 2.  Cause the rest of this soup does not take very long.

Squash roasting in the oven

2.  Sautee your diced onion in a large saucepan until translucent.  Add in water and boullion cubes (or broth).  If using boullion cubes and water, use a wooden spoon to break up the cubes and get it all mixed in with the water.  Then, add spices, roasted squash, and cream cheese.  Use the wooden spoon to break up the cream cheese. Stir it in until it’s all melted and mixed together.

At this point it looks like this, and you can probably understand why it should be blended….

3. Transfer the soup to a blender, and blend for a minute (or like ten seconds if you have a high speed blender like a Vitamix), and then return to the saucepan.

Much better

4.  You’re done!  Eat it!

 

I topped mine with some roasted pumpkin seeds and some dried marjoram.  This soup is very filling.  I love to eat it with a slice of grainy bread, which makes it even more filling.

This soup is so easy, and it freezes well if you don’t think you can eat the whole batch in one night.  This recipe makes around 8 cups (I’m guesstimating, didn’t actually measure…)  I highly recommend you try it, and then if you do, let me know what you think!!!

 

Savory Breakfast Bread Pudding

Last weekend I felt like making something special for Easter breakfast.  Even on the weekends it’s rare that I have time to cook breakfast, so I decided to make the most of this opportunity and try something really different.  Hence, the Savory Breakfast Bread Pudding was created.

Looks delicious, no?

Before now I had only ever made bread pudding as a dessert (which by the way, is amazing. I’ll have to post the recipe for that sometime soon).  I’m very pleased that I ventured into the realm of savory bread puddings.  This breakfast (or honestly eat it for any meal) dish does not disappoint.  I adapted this recipe to make it healthier than the original found here: The Pioneer Woman Cooks.  Ironically, the person who submitted the recipe was also named Dani

My version:

1 loaf sourdough bread, sliced and toasted, then cut into cubes
8 eggs, whisked together
1.5 cups skim milk
1 cup plain, non-fat Greek yogurt
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
1 cup reduced fat, shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
6 tomatoes (I used roma tomatoes)
1 tsp Italian spice mix
1/2 a (10 oz) bag of spinach

Method:

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, yogurt, salt and pepper, mustard.  Add in the toasted bread cubes, shredded cheese.
2. Dice the tomatoes and add in.  Toss in the Italian spice mix.
3. Shred up the spinach and add to the bowl.  Give everything a good stir.

Next, dump this mixture into a big casserole dish and throw it in a 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes.

Or….

You can do what I did, and make it the night before and put it in the big casserole dish and then put it in the fridge. The next morning, take the dish out and allow it come to room temperature before baking for about 45 minutes. Super easy.

The result?

Doesn’t this look delicious?

It was super delicious. It was moist and flavorful and full of texture.  I enjoyed it immensely.  I also had a great Easter, spending some quality time with my family and friends.

Me and my wonderful Mom

My best gal Jenny Penny

I hope you all had wonderful Easters (or whatever holiday you celebrate around this time of year – or heck, I just hope you all had a wonderful weekend).   Thanks for reading!

 

 

 

 

Deviled Eggs with Homemade Pickled Onions

Easter is one of my favorite holidays.  Mainly because I LOVE eggs. Seriously. Every year for Easter I make my mom boil about 6 dozen eggs.  So when I was put in charge of making an appetizer for Easter dinner, I chose to make deviled eggs.  But not just any deviled eggs. I decided to top them off with some homemade pickled onions like the ones I saw at the Chocolate Covered February Cooking Demo in Hershey.  The result? See for yourself….

Pretty.

First thing to do, is to make the pickled onions. These were very easy, so don’t get discouraged if you’ve never pickled anything before – neither had I.

Pickled Onions:

1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 rice vinegar
1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp pickling spice mix (found this in the spice aisle at the local GIANT)
1 Tbsp ground mustard
1 red onion, very thinly sliced

Method:

1. In a small saucepan, mix the sugar, vinegar, and water and bring to a simmer.  Whisk to dissolve sugar.
2. Add salt, pickling spice mix, and dried mustard.   Simmer and whisk till spices and sugar dissolve. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. In a small bowl, add red onions and cover with pickling liquid (if your pickling spices were like mine and was made of larger spice pieces such as whole cloves and such, then I suggest straining this as you pour it over the onions to get all the bits out).  Set off to the side in the fridge and allow to sit for at least two hours.  Strain the liquid before using onions.

My onions just before I put them in the fridge to soak up all that good pickling sauce.

Now, this pickled onion topping could be added to any deviled egg recipe.  I don’t have a standard favorite that I turn to for deviled eggs. I usually just kind of make it up as I go. Here’s what I did this time:

Ingredients:

2 dozen eggs, hard boiled and halved longways
4 heaping Tbsp low fat mayo (low fat is different than light – it only has 1 gram of fat per Tbsp)
4 heaping Tbsp fat free sour cream
1 heaping Tbsp of mustard (spicy or standard yellow, whatever your preference)
2 cloves minced garlic
3 drops of hot sauce (i’m a wimp, so if you like hot sauce then by all means, be more liberal)
salt and pepper

Method:

1. Plop the yolks into a medium sized mixing bowl and lay the whites neatly on a cookie sheet that has rims.
2. Mash the yolks with a fork till they are all crumbly.
3. Add in the mayo, sour cream, mustard, garlic, hot sauce, and salt and pepper and continue to mix with fork until it’s a smooth, creamy consistency.
4.  Put all this mixture into a ziploc plastic baggie and cut off the end of the bag to use as a piping tool.  Carefully pipe the yolk mixture into the whites.  At this point should look like this…

You could eat them like this if you wanted to. But where would the fun in that be?

5. Now you just take the pickled onions, strain off the pickling liquid, and plop some onions onto the eggs.

All ready for Easter!

These eggs are definitely a change from your standard deviled eggs. The pickled onions bring a bold sweetness to them.  Perfect for Easter

I also prepared a savory, Easter morning bread pudding for tomorrow.  That will be the next post!

Wishing you all a most excellent Easter weekend!