21 April 2010

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

For once, I am going to cut my crap and get to the point. You know how I babble and babble before coming to the actual food recipe? Not today! Here’s a recipe that is:
-Healthy
-Tasty
-Easy
-Filling
-Literally hassle-free
-Quite different from the usual soups
-Kids-friendly? (my guess is 'yes' but you tell me)

I got the recipe from Jessica, our lovely nutritionist at work, who brought in a big pot of soup a couple months back. Jessica loves to come up with food (and non-food) ideas to help us become more active and manage weight. The soup she brought was a big hit so there was no chance on earth that I would miss it! I love how the squash and apple flavours blend to give way to a taste that’s totally different and superbly appetizing. The suprise flavour, though is the nutmeg- I was pretty amazed at how a little nutmeg can go a long way.

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup
Original recipe: Bon Appétit, October 2003 by Antoinette Muto, Los Angeles, CA
Makes 8 servings


Ingredients (this is the original recipe; see my variations at the end):
2 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 1/4 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 1/4 cups (or more) vegetable broth
1 Gala apple, peeled, cored, diced
1/2 cup apple juice
1 cup low fat coconut milk
Light sour cream
Chopped fresh chives

Preparation:
- Melt butter in large pot over medium-high heat.
- Add onion and nutmeg; sauté until onion begins to brown, about 5 minutes.
- Add squash, 4 1/4 cups broth, apple, and apple juice. Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer uncovered until squash and apple are tender, about 30 minutes.
- Working in batches, puree soup in blender until smooth.
- Return soup to pot. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring soup to simmer, thinning with more broth if desired.
- Ladle soup into bowls. Garnish with sour cream and chives, if you wish

My variations:
- For the vegetable broth, I used a Maggi vegetable soup bouillon cube along with 4 cups water; worked superbly
- I cut back to about 2 tbsp for the coconut milk
- I skipped on both the light sour cream and the fresh chives (since I didn’t have any on hand) and there was no big difference in taste

Per Serving: Calories -116 cal; Fat 6g, Protein 1g, Fibre 2g, Sodium 79 mg

A perfect weekday recipe, if you aks me. For those of you who think food can’t be tasty and nutritious at the same time, think again!

Cheers,
V

P.S. Anyone notice how I have a lonely coriander leaf sitting as garnish on most of my food photos? N keeps making fun of it; says I should give 'the poor solitary coriander leaf' some rest!

10 comments:

Ms.Chitchat said...

Mmmmmmm,interesting soup,sounds tasty.Loved the color.

Vinaya said...

Thanks LadyChitchat..the soup is as delicious as it is colourful!

Priya Suresh said...

Such a comforting bowl of soup, looks prefect for me..

notyet100 said...

soup looks delicious

Vinaya said...

Priya,
It really is comfort food, totally worth a try!

notyet100,
Yup, it sure was delicious :)

Jayanthy Kumaran said...

Hy Vinaya,
Healthy n tasty soup. First time here. Fantastic collection of receipes you have. Happy to follow u. Do drop in at my blog sometime.

Usha said...

Very interesting and unique combination of ingredients in this soup, love it !

Rachana said...

The Soup looks so delicious... yumm:)

Purple Rain said...

I am gonna try this recipe vinaya...thanks...recently i tried the tomato soup from tarla dalal website....its actually tomato and dal recipe...turned out awesome...try it:)

Vinaya said...

Symlene, the tomato soup sounds healthy..will definitely give it a try sometime soon!