Curried Butternut Squash Soup

One of my favorite things about winter (and it's a short list) is when butternut squash shows up in the markets. I serve it many different ways, but our recent favorite is this soup. Once you've wrestled the squash out of it's shell, you're done with the hard work. Change up the spices if you like, and then sit down to enjoy a soup that has absolutely no added cream or butter, yet tastes silky and rich. I like to top it with a dollop of fat free sour cream (or the real stuff, if that's what I have on hand). If you have some butter fried mushrooms, you can put a few of those in the bowl before you ladle in the soup. Butter fried mushrooms? That's another post.

Curried Butternut Squash Soup
Printer friendly recipe
1 butternut squash (approximately 3 pounds)
Olive oil spray
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 teaspoon curry powder
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper
2 cups chicken stock

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Peel the butternut squash and slice it in half lengthwise. Scoop out the strings and seeds, then cut it into 1" cubes. Spray a sheet pan with olive oil spray, toss the squash on the pan and spray it with the olive oil spray. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake for 20-30 minutes, until the squash starts browning on some of the edges and it's tender when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife.

While the squash is baking, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until they are limp but not brown. Add more olive oil if the pan gets dry or if the onions start getting very brown. When the onions soften add the curry, cinnamon and cayenne to the pan and heat, stirring, for 1-2 minutes to awaken the spices. Set aside until the squash is out of the oven.

In a blender or food processor, puree small batches of the squash with the onions and stock. Don't fill your machine more than 1/3 or 1/2 full when pureeing the vegetables and broth! Hot liquids expand and can cause nasty burns. Puree until smooth (or you can leave it chunky if you like). You may need to add extra stock if your blender is struggling with the squash, which is quite dense. Taste for seasoning and add salt or pepper if needed. Ladle into bowls and serve. Makes 6-8 servings.

CEiMB - Curried Chicken Salad

What's that you say? It's Thursday? Already??

That means it's time for Craving Ellie in My Belly. And this week's pick, hosted by Sarah of the eponymous Sarah's Kitchen Adventures, is Curried Chicken Salad. I LLOOOOVVEE curried anything. In fact, my default tuna salad is curried. I am a huge fan of the curried chicken salad at Whole Foods, so I was eager to make this one.

Ellie's chicken salad begins with poaching the chicken, but I roasted mine instead. Once the chicken was cooked, the work was 3/4 done. After mixing fat free Greek yogurt with mayonnaise, adding curry powder, toasted sliced almonds, and a chopped apple, I gave it a stir. Since it's been a little chilly here, I couldn't get excited about serving this as a salad, so I served it on toast. It was so creamy and delicious. I finished it off last night, and was sorry indeed that it was gone.

If you'd like to see the recipe as Ellie intended it, you can find it here. Here is my take on the recipe:

Curried Chicken Salad - 4 servings

1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cooled
1/4 sliced almonds, lightly toasted
1/2 cup fat free Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder (more or less, to taste)
1 small apple, cored and chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup arugula, washed and dried
8 slices whole wheat bread

Chop chicken into bite-sized pieces and place in a medium bowl. Add the chopped apple and almonds and stir to combine. In a small bowl, thoroughly combine the yogurt, mayonnaise and curry powder. Pour over the chicken mixture and fold together to combine.

Toast bread, if desired. Divide the chicken salad over 4 slices of bread, top with the arugula and the rest of the bread.