Phyllis’ Butternut Squash Soup

(with slight variations)

Utensils: Cutting board & knife, soup pot, measuring cup
Prep. Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: about 25 minutes
Categories: Vegan, gluten-free

Ingredients

2 cups chopped onion
4 Tbl. olive or macadamia nut oil or coconut oil (or butter)
3- 3 ½ lbs. butternut squash (cut in half, seeds removed, peeled and cut into ½  pieces or use pre-peeled & cut  found in almost all markets)
6- 6 ½ cups cups veggie broth
two strips of organic orange zest
½ c. fresh squeezed orange juice (I used Trader Joe’s fresh-squeezed)
Spices: mace, ginger, all spice, pinch of cayenne, salt, or any spices you prefer

Directions

1. Cook onions in butter in a large pot over moderately low heat until softened, about 5 minutes.
2. Add peeled & cut squash and cut up sweet potato, (See variation below), 6 cups of the broth, orange zest, orange juice, and spices simmer covered for about 30minutes or until veggies are soft enough to puree..
4. Puree mixture in food processor in small batches (or use a hand-held blender in the pot.) If too thick, add the other 1/2 cup broth and puree again to desired consistency. (I like mine less than smooth, so my picture shows more texture to the squash, since I did not puree it completely.)

Variation: Add a cut up sweet potato to the squash

Note: I purchased a package of peeled and cut squash that was only one lb. 4 oz. , so I added a sweet potato to bring the amount to about half of what the recipes calls fort,  and then halved the recipe.

Yield for ½ the recipe: 6-8 servings, depending on if it is a side dish or main course.