Butternut squash soup

By a couple requests via Instagram, here is the butternut squash soup recipe! I adapted it from Deb's Summer Squash Soup. I subbed quite a bit of ingredients out based on what I had on hand, but it's very similar to hers. I'd be nowhere without Deb.

soup:
6 tbs of butter
2-3 cloves of garlic (depending on your taste, how much do you love garlic?), chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1 decent sized butternut squash, peeled and cubed
2 carrots, chopped
4 cups chicken broth

pistou (drizzle sauce as I call it):
4 cloves of garlic (I LOVE GARLIC), chopped
handful of fresh basil leaves, I'd say like 10 or so good sized leaves, more if they're smaller, chopped
1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil
2 tbs of water
1/4 tsp salt

Throw your butter in a big ol' sauce pan and melt it up. Brown it for good measure because browning butter is always a good idea. Just as it's beginning to brown, toss in your garlic, cook for like 45 seconds and then add your chicken broth and veggies. Bring to a boil and cook partially covered until tender; took my veggies about 15 minutes.

While your veggies are boiling, make that drizzle sauce! Throw your garlic and basil leaves in your food processor and process (is that the correct verb?) until everything is of a fairly small and uniform size, and slightly like a paste. Add the olive oil and water little by little and continue processing until you've got something like a watery pesto.

Once your veggies are tender, set the pot to the side and let cool for 10 minutes or so. Then pour everything into a blender and puree, little by little. Return to your pot (by way of a bowl) and put that baby back on the stove. Add your salt and a little water if it's too thick, I added like 1/2 cup. Cook for a few minutes, then ladle that business into some bowls. Drizzle your pistou over it, as little or as much as you like (this business is garlicky, watch yo'self!). Serve it up with some toasted and buttered bread of any variety. It is unstoppable on buttered bread.

And that's it! Super easy, although peeling and chopping that butternut squash up is a tad labor intensive. Honestly, it's such a pain. But this soup is real good. And healthy! This vegetarian-esque lifestyle is forcing us (me) to get creative in the kitchen with veggies. Not all my experiments are successful, but this one definitely was!

Oh and HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY! I am proud to be an American and proud of the progress we're making in this country. Good things are happening and although they aren't happening easily, they are happening and that's what matters. Food to politics? Phewww! Go 'merica! Eat some squash soup!

Cauliflower and cheese soup

Cauliflower is a little weird. It looks like a brain. It's definitely not one of my favorite foods, although I'll eat it (as long as it's cooked to death or drowning in a sauce of some sort). But this soup y'all... it's good. I used this recipe from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine. It's so easy and so bueno. And you could totally swap the cauliflower for pretty much whatever veggie you want.

Here's the run down:

You'll need; butter, an onion, a head of cauliflower (or an equal-ish amount of another veggie), cheese (white cheddar here), chicken broth, water, salt & pepper, and then cayenne to sprinkle on top (optional, but delicious). Specific amounts found over in Martha's recipe.

First things first, get yo' butter melting in your pan while you chop up your onion and cauliflower.

Cook your onion in the butter until it's soft. Drool over how delicious it smells.

While my onion was a-cookin', I had my Mr. H shred my cheese (doesn't that sound like an innuendo?). We couldn't find white cheddar pre-shredded, so we just got a block and did it ourselves. And you could totally use regular yellow cheddar. Or any cheese you'd like!

After your onions are soft, throw in your cauliflower and cook until they're golden brown. Stir these babies a bunch, or the ones on the bottom will stick to the pan and the guys on top wont cook.

Next up, the liquid! 4 cups of chicken broth + 1 cup of water. Really any liquid will do here. Chicken broth has lots of flavor, so anything flavorful is bueno. We make a similar sweet potato soup with coconut milk and broth. Though I've never tried it, I bet beer would be good. Beer and cheese? Win.

Once your cauliflower is soft and mushy, puree the whole thing in the blender. We did ours in two batches. After it's a nice even texture, pour it back into the pan and add your cheese.

Stir until the cheese melts, pour into bowls, sprinkle it with cayenne (or any seasoning you favor, cinnamon or nutmeg would be good with a squash or sweet potato based soup) and eat! Preferably with some sort of dipping side item. We had ours with french bread!

Soups like this are so easy. They're fairly quick and kind of a one dish wonder. Just cook your veggies, add some liquid, and blend it up! Great meal when you're not in the mood for something heavy and overly filling. And soups are perfect for fall and cool weather, although we are obviously jumping the gun here a bit. I mean it is still in the 90's, but whatev.