Butternut Squash Soup

I love thick creamy soups in the fall. The problem is that milk products and I don't get along very well. Lactards out there rejoice! I have a terrific recipe for you that is not only dairy free, but what I think should be very healthy. I have actually never made butternut squash soup before (I made up this recipe as well...), and got über-excited when I ordered my hand blender online earlier this week. Unfortunately, I couldn't wait for that to arrive, so I did this in a blender, which just means some extra cleaning. I was working on this soup while putting together my halloween costume, so the timing of everything really doesn't matter all that much. You could also probably skip the roasting step, but I wasn't in any rush. The amount of liquid is also up to you, depending on if you want a thicker or thinner soup, so the amount listed below is merely a suggestion. Just keep adding that chicken stock for a thinner soup. The herbs and spices are mainly a guide, take out what you don't like and add others, such as nutmeg, which I probably would've done, but I ran out last weekend. Don't be afraid of the curry paste. You can barely taste it unless you're looking for it. This serves about 4 people.

Ingredients:

1 butternut squash (mine was 2.3 lbs)

3 cloves garlic

olive oil

1 medium sized onion, diced

1 cup water

1 cup chicken stock, plus extra

1 cup soy milk

1/2 tsp dried thyme

7 whole cloves

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp Patak's Hot Curry Paste (can find this in most grocery stores, definitely Whole Foods)

Salt

Pepper

Green onions-optional for garnish

Directions:

1. Cut up the squash into pieces, and smash up 3 cloves of garlic. Put in a roasting pan and drizzle with olive oil and season liberally with salt and pepper. Bake in 350 deg F oven for about 1 hour, depending on the size of your pieces.

2. Saute the onions in olive oil (oh i don't know, maybe 2tbsp?) until they are soft.

3. Once the pieces are mostly soft (i.e. you can easily pierce with fork), take out of the oven and peel it and cube the squash. Put it into a pot with water, chicken stock, onion and the spices and let it boil for about 30 min until everything is very soft.

4. Dump everything into a blender, and puree until well blended. I had to do this in batches in the blender. This is where a stick blender would've come in handy...

5. Return to pot and stir in the soy milk. Add salt until you think it's enough. My pet peeve is recipes that try to tell you how much salt to add. Put your taste buds to use! Add more stock if you want to thin it out.

6. Serve in bowls garnished with sliced green onions.