Butternut Squash Soup

This is actually my own recipe! I'm not quite to the level of off-the-cuff, invent-your-own-recipe chef, but I'm getting pretty adept at combining and altering recipes and making them my own.

Whitney's Butternut Squash Soup

• 1 medium butternut squash, halved and seeded
• 2 T butter
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed
• 3 C water
• 3 t chicken bouillon
• 1/2 t marjoram
• 1/2 t black pepper
• 1/8 t cayenne pepper
• 4 oz cream cheese
• 1/4 C chopped green onions (for garnish)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Cut squash in half and seed. Place the halves on a baking sheet, cut-side down. Bake until tender when pierced with a knife, 45 minutes to 1 hour.  

While the squash is roasting, heat butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add onion, celery, carrots and sweet potato and saute until onions are translucent. Add water, bouillon, marjoram, pepper and cayenne and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until squash is tender.

Scoop flesh of squash into soup pot. Simmer for 5 minutes. 

Place cream cheese in blender and add the soup (or use an immersion blender and just plop the cream cheese in the soup pot). You may need to do this step in batches if you are using a regular blender. Blend the soup and cream cheese until smooth and transfer back to soup pot. Stir the soup in the pot (especially if you blended it in batches). Do not bring the soup to boil again. 

Serve garnished with green onions (Costco's sourdough bread also makes a delicious side). 

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 302 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories  147 Calories from Fat  47

% Daily Value*

Total Fat  5.2g 8%

Saturated Fat  3.2g 16%

Trans Fat  0.0g

Cholesterol  16mg 5%

Sodium  84mg 3%

Total Carbohydrates  24.6g 8%

Dietary Fiber  4.4g 18%

Sugars  6.0g

Protein  3.3g

Vitamin A 440% • Vitamin C 61% Calcium 10% • Iron 8%

Nutrition Grade A

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Nutritional Analysis

Good points

• High in dietary fiber
• High in magnesium
• High in potassium
• Very high in vitamin A
• High in vitamin B6
• Very high in vitamin C

Bad points

• High in saturated fat
• High in sugar