Butternut Squash Soup

Fall's here!  Meaning it's soup time =)  I love soup, it's one of my favorite winter foods, so the next couple months will bring many soup recipes.  The farmer's market had really nice looking squashes, so I figured I'd kick of soup season with a butternut squash soup.  One squash makes a lot of soup, so I usually make it fairly thick and freeze it in small portions.  Then when you want to eat it you can heat it up and add water to get your desired consistency.

Ingredients

1 large butternut squash (~2 lbs)

1 tbsp oil or butter

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/8 tsp nutmeg powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

3/4 tsp paprika powder

2 veggie bullion cubes

1/8 tsp ground cloves

2 tbsp grated coconut (optional; I use the frozen grated coconut NOT desiccated coconut, you can also use coconut milk)

4 cups water (or to desired thickness, this recipe is for a thicker soup)

Directions

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Cut the butternut squash into quarters.  Place face down on a baking sheet, poke holes all over using a fork and bake for 45 mins.  Flip them over and bake an additional 15 mins.  Remove from the oven and let cool.

2.  Scoop the inside of the butternut squash out.  Blend this with 1 cup of water.

3.  In a large saucepan, melt the butter on medium heat.  Add the onions and cook for ~7 mins, stirring constantly, until light brown.

4.  Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.  Turn the heat to low and simmer for 10 mins.