Butternut Squash Spicy Bisque

This recipe is for people who can handle heat!

This recipe is modified from a recipe that I tore out of a magazine. It looks like the recipe was strangely part of a Kahlua ad.

Ingredients:
1 large or medium butternut squash
3 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup celery, chopped
3/4 cup carrots, chopped
1 medium white onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups chicken broth
3 heaping teaspoons of green chiles from a can of chopped green chiles
2 tablespoons of hot sauce
1/2 cup sour cream
Coarse salt
Black pepper

Start by preheating the oven to 400. Halve the butternut squash lengthwise. Be careful with your knife. I've had a few close calls when cutting squash. Remove the seeds, and set them aside for later. Remove the pulp and throw it in the garbage.

Grease a Dutch oven or baking dish with one tablespoon of olive oil. Flat side down, place the squash in your dish. Stab the skin of the squash just like you pierce a potato with a fork. To roast the squash, put it in the oven for 45 minutes.

Let the squash cool. Remove the flesh and set aside. Don't burn your fingers.

In your Dutch oven or other pot, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium heat. Add in the celery, carrots, and onion. Tenderize these veggies. This will take 10-15 minutes. Now add the minced garlic. Saute for three minutes. Then, add flesh of the squash. Stir well and add chicken broth. Boil, and then reduce the heat to low until the vegetables are tender. This will take about 30 minutes.

While you wait, toast the squash seeds on medium-low heat in a small pan. Let the seeds toast for about 30 minutes. Salt the seeds.
Take the soup off the heat to cool, and use an immersion blender or food processor to blend the soup. After all of the soup is blended, add 2 teaspoons of the chopped green chiles and 2 tablespoons of hot sauce. Mix well.

In a separate bowl, mix 1 teaspoon of the chopped green chiles and sour cream. Season with salt and black pepper.

Serve the soup. Throw a dollop of the sour cream/chiles mixture into each bowl (mine sunk) and garnish with the toasted seeds.This was quite delicious in a spicy, flavorful way.

Crock Pot Wild Rice & Ham Soup

I'm sure you're not surprised to hear that I'm still obsessed with soups. :) This recipe is delicious and low in calories.

This recipe is modified from another Betty Crocker soup magazine.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups diced ham
3/4 cup wild rice
1 medium or large white onion, chopped
1 cup carrots, julienned
2 cups chicken broth
3 cups of water
1 can of cream of celery soup (about 10.75 oz)
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 cup half and half
1/2 cup cashews, halved
2 tablespoons sherry
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Start by greasing your 4-quart slow cooker with oil or cooking spray. Toss in the ham, rice, carrot pieces, chicken broth, water, cream of celery soup, and pepper. Cook covered on low for 7-8 hours.

Mix in the half and half, cashews, sherry, and parsley. Turn up the heat to high, and let these ingredients blend for 15 more minutes.Serve!

I will definitely be making this again.

Creamy Carrot Soup

I have had pretty decent luck with recipe/cooking magazines. I usually get suckered into buying one while I'm waiting in line at the grocery store.

This has been a great recipe collection for my recent soup obsession.

I tried making the Creamy Carrot Soup. These recipes were submitted from readers. This instantly made me nervous, but I recently heard that recipe magazines test all of the recipes in test kitchens, even with multiple ovens/stoves!

Here were the ingredients:
3 cups of sliced carrots
1 cup of chopped onion
2/3 cup chopped celery
1 1/2 cups of diced peeled potatoes
1 minced garlic clove
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
2 teaspoons canola oil
4 cups of chicken broth
Dash of nutmeg
As I have mentioned before, you can freeze chicken broth. So, I used some that I had in the freezer.

This recipe was extremely easy and delicious.

Start by sauteing the carrots, onions, celery, potatoes, garlic, and sugar over medium heat in a Dutch oven. Saute for 5 minutes.

Add the nutmeg, broth, and season with salt/pepper.

Boil.

After boiling, reduce the heat, cover and simmer. Let it simmer for 30 minutes. Make sure the veggies are tender.

Cool before putting it in the food processor. Since I have a small food processor, I had to do several batches in the food processor. After all of it is "processed," return to the Dutch oven and heat.

Serve with a grilled cheese. Yummmmm...