Chunky Vegetable Soup & Roasted Butternut Squash

Chunky Vegetable Soup

• Couple tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 3 medium/large carrots, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, pressed
• few pinches thyme
• 2 cans stewed tomatoes (I puree mine for the tomato hater in my house)
• few cups chicken stock
• handful pasta (whatever you want. I used spinach spaghetti, broken into small pieces)

In a stock pot over medium heat, add oil and heat. Add and cook the onion, celery and carrots until soft. Add garlic and thyme. After 3 minutes, add tomatoes and water and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add the pasta and cook until done. I let mine sit on low, covered, for a half hour prior to serving. Serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese.


Roasted Butternut Squash

I LOVE THIS. I am not a fan of squash cooked with sugar or anything sweet- I am a hater of sweet when it should be savory. I never, ever let my syrup touch my eggs or bacon. Ack! But this side is amazing. It's not my recipe. I found one and tweaked it until it was just right, so it's sort of mine?

• 1 tsp smoked paprika (please buy good paprika. Paprika rules the spice rack.)
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion salt
• Fresh ground black pepper and sea salt
• 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
• extra virgin olive oil (the amount will vary. Use until you have a runny paste)

Preheat oven to 375. Peel the squash and cube into 1 inch pieces. (Google how to peel and cut a butternut if you don't know how)

Mix the paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, salt and balsamic in a small bowl. Slowly stream in olive oil and whisk quickly until you have a runny paste. Don't add too much, it's not salad dressing.

Dump mixture over squash pieces in a large bowl and mix until it's evenly coated. Arrange on a baking sheet covered by Silpat (or parchment or some kind of protective layer. Silicone is best) and bake until done, about 30-40 minutes. You'll want to check and turn about halfway through cooking time.