Departure From The Norm

Hi readers and happy Monday

Like the title suggests, I am switching gears and trying something different today with a food post. On Sunday, I made one of my favorite soups and thought I would share the process with you. This is my first time cooking and taking pictures, so I'm hoping I've captured all of the important steps. I apologize for the quality of the photos as the lighting was a bit wonky.

I love Butternut Squash soup. There's something about it that makes me feel warm and comfy inside. I guess this soup would be called my comfort food. Whenever the Hubby and I eat out, I usually try to recreate some of my favorite dishes. Being able to cook them is less expensive and I can have as much as I want without the stares of other diners.
I found the recipe here but I made a few modifications. I didn't make it with the shrimp, since all I wanted was soup and a few others that I've included below. If you try the recipe from the site, let me know how it turned out.


Here are the ingredients with modifications:

1.5 Tbsp of pre-grated ginger

1 large shallot, chopped

1/2 Tbsp diced garlic

4 whole star anise

2Tbsp butter (use olive oil if you want a healthier version)

2 butternut squash

4 cups low sodium chicken broth (or vegetable broth for a healthier soup)

I started out with 2 relatively large butternut squash, cut them in half then skinned them, removed the seeds.

Afterward, I cut them up into small pieces so they would boil faster.

I added the butter, shallot, garlic, star anise and ginger to the dutch oven and cooked them on medium-high until the shallots were fragrant and slightly translucent.

Add the squash and chicken broth and bring to a simmer uncovered for about 20 minutes. Don't let it boil or all the liquid will evaporate quickly.

After checking the squash to make sure it's tender, and removing the star anise, I removed the dutch oven from the heat and used my immersion blender to puree the soup. If you don't have one, you can add the soup in batches to a blender. Be careful!

Once it's all blended ladle the soup into a bowl and enjoy! I like to eat this delicious soup with crusty french bread.

Let me know about your favorite comfort food in the comments!