Apple Squash Soup

I never used to be one who liked soups like this, but I needed something simple to bring to my grandfather's house. I thought this would be easy on his stomach, and I knew I could make it the night before and bring it to his house after church. 

I admit, since this is the first time I have made a squash soup, it took awhile, maybe an hour and a half. But a majority of that time was letting the squash cook. 

Ingredients:

• 1 medium to large butternut squash (original recipe says 4lbs, but I didn't pay attention to the weight of mine.)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium red onion
• 5 tart apples (Granny smith or similar)
• 4 cups organic low sodium chicken broth
• 1 tsp cinnamon (or nutmeg)
• 1 tsp minced garlic (or ginger)
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degree. 
2. Cut squash in half, cover with aluminum foil, place on baking sheet and bake for 1 hour or until tender. (I ended up quartering my squash toward the end, because it was taking too long to cook.
3. Chop onion.
4. Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. 
5. Add onions and garlic, cook, stirring occasionally, until tender.
6. While onion is cooking, peel, core, and chop apples.
7. Add apples, broth, and cinnamon to saucepan with onions. Bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes, or until apples are tender. Stir occasionally. Remove from heat when done.
8. Place apple mixture in blender, in multiple small batches (be careful as it may produce steam). Blend until smooth. 
9. Scoop out squash flesh. (Once tender it will peel off easily.) Place small batches of squash in blender with milk or some apple mixture. Blend until smooth. Repeat this process with all of the squash. 
10. Add squash to apple mixture. 
11. Add salt and pepper. (Stop here if you are reheating later.)
12. Bring soup to a gentle boil over low heat, stirring frequently.
13. Ladle into bowls and serve immediately. Top with roasted pumpkin seeds and some red pepper flakes for a little kick. (Makes 8 servings.)

I have to tell you, when I told my husband I was going to make this soup, he asked what he was going to eat. It turns out everyone loved it. We had egg/tuna salad sandwiches to go with the soup. Delicious. For dinner, I added some chopped up chicken to the soup, and it was fantastic. Definitely making this again and freezing batches for a quick meal.

(Recipe adapted from www.teambeachbody.,com)