Butternut Squash Soup

Making this was my first time to try anything with butternut squash. It always sounded interesting, so I decided to make it into a soup. Turns out that I loved this recipe. It's awesome, nutritious, tasty, and easy to make. I apologize that my pics are not the best at all, as it looks like baby food. However, trust me when I say it is a must try! If you want, you can also change up the recipe with a few twists provided below. (From http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/1975 )

Butternut Squash Soup

I apologize for the terrible image quality! I should have had some garnish with it, but this was the first time making it and I had nothing fancy to make it look pretty

 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 
1 carrot, diced 
1 celery stalk, diced 
1 onion, diced 
4 cups cubed butternut squash, fresh or frozen 
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme 
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth 
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt 
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper (I would rather use 1/4 tsp next time, since 1/2 makes it much spicier).


Heat oil in a large soup pot. Add carrot, celery and onion. Cook until vegetables have begun to soften and onion turns translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. 

Stir in butternut squash, thyme, chicken broth, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until squash is fork-tender, about 30 minutes. 

Use an immersion blender to purée soup. Alternatively, let the soup cool slightly and carefully purée in batches in a traditional blender (this is what I did and it turned out well.)

once again, the image quality is terrible! But take my word that it is a must try!

 3 twists:

Apple, Gorgonzola and Almond Butternut Soup
Stir 1 cup unsweetened applesauce into puréed soup. Garnish each serving with crumbled Gorgonzola cheese, toasted almonds, a few slices of thinly sliced apple and a small sprig of fresh thyme.

Thai-style Butternut Soup
Stir a tablespoon of red curry paste and 2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger into carrot, celery and onion mixture. Add 1/2 cup coconut milk with broth. Purée soup and garnish each serving with toasted coconut flakes and chopped fresh cilantro.

Southwestern-style Butternut Soup
Add a tablespoon chopped chipotles in adobo sauce to carrot, celery and onion mixture. Garnish soup with crumbled queso fresco, toasted pumpkin seeds and chopped fresh cilantro.

Nutritional Info: 

Per Serving:140 calories (50 from fat), 6g total fat, 1g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 280mg sodium, 20g carbohydrate (5g dietary fiber, 4g sugar), 6g protein

Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings

This chicken and dumplings recipe was the bomb diggity. I'm not kidding! I pulled this recipe from pinterest, not sure of how it would turn out by looking at the original picture. However, I was impressed with this recipe as it turned out to taste more like a creamy chicken noodle soup, with dumplings instead of noodles. It is a must-try.

Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings

(from http://www.bubblecrumb.com/2010/02/14/crock-pot-chicken-and-dumplings-recipe/)

 

4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used 2 very large ones)

2 tablespoons butter

2 cans cream of chicken soup (I used Campbell's healthy choice 98% fat free)

1 can chicken broth

1 onion diced

1 Cup chopped carrots and celery, if desired

1 tablespoon dried parsley

4 grands flaky refrigerator biscuits

Place chicken breasts in the crock pot, then add the butter, cream of chicken soup, chicken broth, onions, other vegetables if wanted, and parsley. Turn the crock pot onto high and cook for 4-6 hours. After cooking time has elapsed, remove chicken and chop it up. Place back into crock pot. 

Cut up the 4 biscuits into 9 pieces. Stir into the hot chicken mixture, turn the crock pot back on to high, and cook for another 30 minutes. Continue adding more chicken broth as necessary. Enjoy!!

Clam Chowder and Garlic Cheese Biscuits

This clam chowder was another from a cookbook that I have. It is very delicious! However, I learned the hard way: it makes a lot. I should have taken the note when the writer said it's her favorite to serve around Christmas time. So I suggest that you cut it in half, unless you are feeding over 6 people.

Anyways, here is the recipe. I adjusted it a bit from the book so here it goes:

Clam Chowder 

2 to 3 cans minced clams

1 C onion, chopped

1 C celery, diced

2 C potato, peeled and diced

3/4 C butter

3/4 C flour

1 qt half and half (I used fat-free, which worked completely fine once I added about another 3 Tbsp of butter to keep it creamy)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1 1/2 tsp pepper (if you like it a little spicy. If you don't, then you can cut it down. I personally liked this much pepper because I'm usually up for a mild flavor kick.)

Add vegetables to a large stockpot. Open cans of clams and pour in the juice with the vegetables, reserving the clams, then add enough water to barely cover. Bring vegetables to a boil over medium-high heat. Turn down heat and simmer over medium-low heat until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.

In a heavy saucepan, melt butter. Add flour and stir until smooth. Cook for about 1 minute. Slowly add half and half, constantly stirring with a wire whisk until thick and smooth, making a white sauce. Add white sauce to vegetable mixture and stir to combine. Stir in salt, pepper, and clams. Heat through and serve. Adding clams at the last minute keeps them tender instead of chewy. Serve in bread bowls or with garlic cheese biscuits. I actually used the garlic cheese biscuit recipe from the back of the Bisquick box, but there is also this one, which involves more butter and cheese:

Garlic Cheese Biscuits (from The Girl Who Ate Everything): 

Cheddar Bay Biscuits

Biscuits:

2 1/2 cups Bisquick

4 Tbsp cold butter

1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

3/4 cup milk

1/4 tsp garlic powder

Butter Glaze:

3 Tbsp butter

1/2 tsp garlic powder

3/4 tsp dried parsley flakes

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease or line one cookie sheet with parchment; set aside.

Combine Bisquick with cold butter in a medium bowl using a pastry cutter (I just used 2 forks). Don't worry about mixing too thoroughly; there will be small chunks of butter in the mix about the size of peas. Add cheddar cheese, milk, and garlic powder. Mix by hand until combined, but don't over mix.

Drop 1/4 cup portions of the dough onto the lightly greased or parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 11-13 minutes in preheated oven or until the tops of the biscuits begin to turn light brown.

While the biscuits are baking, melt butter is a small bowl in the microwave. Stir in garlic powder and dried parsley flakes. Use a brush to spread the garlic butter over the tops of all the biscuits. Sprinkle a little kosher salt on the freshly coated biscuits. Makes one dozen.