Soup's On

There's nothing like a pot of homemade soup on a cold day.
I prefer to make my own soup because I know what's in it.
I have purchased soup from restaurants and grocery stores and find them to usually be way oversalted, greasy, or suffering from being kept hot for too long.  Making soup is not too hard and well worth the trouble.  One of my favorites is butternut squash soup.  You can use fresh whole butternut squash or buy a package of already cubed squash at Costco.  If you use a whole squash, prick it with a fork and place it in the microwave for a minute.  The skin will soften enough to cut it easily.  I learned this trick from my mother when she made Japanese kabocha, a very hard pumpkin/squash.
Here's my simple recipe for Spicy Butternut Squash Soup, the lightened up version.
I have a more complicated gourmet version I will post another time.

Spicy Butternut Squash Soup
Olive oil spray
1 cup onion, diced
1-2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
1 T minced garlic
2 tsp fresh sage, minced (or use 1 tsp dry sage)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
8 cups roasted butternut squash
4 cups reduced sodium fat free chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 cup skim milk
Freshly ground sea salt and pepper to taste

To roast the squash, preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Place cut up squash with seeds removed, on oiled sheet pan.  Roast for 35 minutes, turning twice during coooking. Cool slightly and scoop out of skin.

Saute onion, jalapeno, garlic, sage, red pepper and cinnamon in large pot sprayed with olive oil spray over medium heat.  Cook until vegetables are softened, approximately 5 minutes.  Add squash and broth and bring to boil.  Reduce to simmer for 20 minutes.  Puree soup with immersion blended or transfer soup to blender in small batches.  Mix in milk at the end.  Salt and pepper to taste.