 Recipe Courtesy Of Restorative Cuisine
This dairy-free velvety Roasted Butternut Squash and Sage Soup will keep you warm on a cold day. The hints of apple and sage turn it into a delectable soup that the whole family will love! IS THE BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP VEGAN? Yes, you can make this soup vegan just sub out the bone broth with vegetable broth. There is absolutely no dairy in this soup. Make sure to use full-fat coconut milk though so that your soup is nice and creamy. HOW TO ROAST BUTTERNUT SQUASH Roasting butternut squash will give it a sweet caramelized taste which will add a nice depth to the soup. It’s also super simple to roast butternut squash, way easier than cutting it up in cubes! All you have to do is cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Place the butternut squash on a baking sheet, sprinkle with some salt, drizzle some olive oil on top and bake at 400F for about 40 minutes. Insert a fork into the squash to see if it’s done. If it’s easy to pierce through the squash, it’s done! Let it cool a bit as to not burn your fingers. Scoop out the flesh with a large spoon and discard the skin. CAN I COOK THE BUTTERNUT SQUASH IN THE INSTANT POT? You sure can! Add 1 cup of water to your instant pot and place the butternut squash on top. If your squash is small enough you can even put the entire squash in without cutting it. Cook it at high pressure for 25 minutes and then quickly release the pressure. If you want to speed up the process, cut the squash into smaller pieces and scoop out the seeds. Cook at high pressure for 8 minutes and then quickly release the pressure. WHY SHOULD I EAT BUTTERNUT SQUASH? Butternut squash is high in fiber which promotes a healthy digestive tract. Studies have shown that fiber may decrease inflammation which is great for those that have autoimmune conditions. Squash also contains a moderate amount of almost every dietary mineral and vitamin which sounds pretty amazing to me!! They are particularly high in Vitamin C and beta-carotene which can help boost immune function. From a mom’s perspective, squash seems to be one of the easier vegetables to serve to kids. It has a sweet flavor and velvety texture when pureed or in soups. It’s also great to use in lasagna or mac and cheese! EQUIPMENT
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 Darkening and chilling November days call for something hot and soothing to eat. This chicken broth fits the bill and can serve as the plain basis for a variety of dishes such as chicken noodle soup and can also provide the foundation to make sauce for a chicken pot pie or for chicken enchiladas. As it makes a generous quantity, the broth can be frozen, preferably in convenient pint containers, for use in future food prep. I recommend spending two days when making this broth (not counting shopping for its ingredients)—the first day for cooking and the second day for processing, i.e., reheating and re-straining the broth and skinning and boning the chicken after their overnight stay in your refrigerator. It’s like mixing cookie batter one day and baking it the next, thereby dividing the work. The broth can be enhanced by the addition of noodles or dumplings or simple egg drop. Science has proven it’s true that chicken soup can make us feel better if we catch a cold or flu. I wish it would work as well on covid. If we are still staying home most of the time, preparing this broth will give us something worthwhile to do for family and self. This recipe is based on the number three and so is very easy to remember. Basically, it is the way my Mother, Mary Unger, made chicken broth, but this one has measurements—especially for water, which I no longer eyeball, as too much can ‘thin’ the broth. Chicken broth today is not as rich as when I was a kid because chicken farmers no longer leave fat in the bird. I often rendered the chicken’s fat and used the resulting schmaltz to make a rich pie crust to top a chicken pot pie. Mom’s best trick for making chicken (or beef) broth came from her brother Franz, who was a cook in the WWI Austrian army. This trick is contrary to every recipe I have ever read for making broth. Franz said to bring the water to a rolling boil before adding the chicken, bring the water back up to a boil, and then lower it to a simmer. Almost always, one reads to cover the chicken with cold water, which results in the development of an ugly protein scum, which has to be skimmed from broth. Boiling water results in scum-free broth and flavorful chicken (or beef).
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