Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

I've tried this recipe a couple of times now and each time, I love the twist the corn gives to this classic  winter recipe. It's healthy, low fat and yummy!

Ingredients:
Butternut squash, cubed - 6 cups
Roasted corn - 2 cups
Spring Onions - 4 stalks, diced
Garlic - 2 cloves
Salt, pepper - to taste
Olive oil - per preference
Spices - cumin, coriander powders - to taste

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and spread out the butternut squash evenly. Sprinkle salt and lace with olive oil. Sprinkle the diced spring onions evenly. 
3. Wrap the cloves of garlic in aluminum foil and place in a corner of the cookie sheet. 
4. Roast the squash, garlic and onions for about 30-45 minutes until the squash is tender.
5. If you have regular corn, roast it on stovetop while the squash is in the oven. An alternative is to buy frozen roasted corn and just defrosting it so its ready to be added to the squash later.
6. Once the squash is taken out of the oven, let it cool. Allow the garlic to cool and mince. 
7. In batches, add the squash, onions, garlic and corn to the blender until smooth consistency is achieved. 
8. You can now return the mixture to the pan on stovetop and add your spices or just have the soup as is. 
9. Another optional step is to bake croutons and add to top of soup before serving. 

Yummy, creamless soup that's perfect for a cold fall/winter night. 

Hearty Vegetable Stew

Here's an all-weather recipe that's never boring!

Ingredients:

Zucchi

ni - 1/2 cup, diced

Cabbage - 1/4 cup, shredded

Carrots - 1/4 cup, diced small

Red Peppers - 1/4 cup, diced small

Spring Onion - 1 stalk, diced

Celery - 1/2 cup, diced small

Roma Tomatoes - 2, diced

Kidney Beans - 1 can, washed

V8 vegetable juice (low sodium) - 8 oz can

Garlic (minced) - 1/2 tsp

Oregano - 1/3 tsp

Thyme - 1/3 tsp

Basil - 1/3 tsp

Celery Salt - to taste

Black Pepper - to taste

Ground Cumin - 1/2 tsp

Turmeric - 1/2 tsp

Water or Vegetable Stock - 4 cups

Method:

1. Heat a large saucepan and add a tablespoon of Olive oil.
2. Add spring onions and garlic and sautee. Once the onions are translucent, add the tomatoes and V8 juice.
3. Add all spices, cover and simmer
4. After about 2 minutes, add the vegetables, stock or water and simmer for 20 minutes
5. Add kidney beans and more water, if necessary. Cover and cook for another 20-30 minutes.
6. Once vegetables are done, simmer on low heat for another 15 minutes.
7. Serve with bread or crostini

This is a fat-free stew, heart healthy and meant to be a meal by itself. This recipe should easily serve 2-3 people

Cream of Broccoli Soup

Healthy version of the popular all-time favorite soup!! Broccoli is rich in Vitamins A, K and C and is said to prevent cancer. So, eat up!!!

This recipes serves 2

Ingredients:

Broccoli florets : 3-4 cups

Milk : 2 cups

Water or Vegetable broth : 2 cups

Other vegetables (optional) : 1 cup

Cheese : 1 cup

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Boil broccoli and other vegetables of your choice in water until tender.

2. Transfer them to the food processor and whisk for about 2 minutes, until you have a smooth paste. Add water or vegetable broth (from boiling the veggies earlier) to loosen up the consistency.

3. Transfer the paste back to the soup pot and stir in rest of the vegetable broth.

4. Add milk to the soup pot, while constantly stirring the broccoli mixture. Make sure the setting is turned to low heat (to prevent curdling).

5. Add cheese (any cheese is ok, as long as it melts) to the mixture and keep stirring.

6. Simmer on low for about 5-7 minutes, stirring at equal intervals.

7. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve

Note:

I used 1% milk while making this soup. You can use 2% milk or skim - but if you use skim, lessen the amount of water or vegetable broth to maintain the thick consistency of the soup.

As for cheese, you can use any cheese that melts easy - Velveeta, mozzarella or in my case, I used Laughing Cow Low fat Swiss cheese wedges - I used 3 wedges.