Butternut Soup

Nothin' beats warm soup and homemade bread on a cold, blustery day. We're talking comfort food, baby!  I'm finding out that soup is pretty souper super -- it's healthy, low-point eating, and better yet -- great for a tight budget. So, we're trying to incorporate soups into our menu planning a little more these days.

Here's a little autumn soup we tried not too long ago. Loved the flavor of the roasted butternut! Perfect for the season. Give it a try and tell me what you think...

 
Butternut Soup

2 points per serving

1 medium butternut squash (about 3 lbs.), peeled, seeded and cut into 1 inch cubes

2 Tablespoons olive oil, divided

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 large onion, chopped

3 celery ribs, chopped

2 Tablespoons minced fresh sage, or 2 teaspoons rubbed sage

3 cans (14.5 oz. each) reduced-sodium chicken broth

cooking spray

 

Place squash in a 15 x 10 x 1 inch baking pan lightly coated with cooking spray. Drizzle  with 1 Tablespoon oil; sprinkle with pepper. Toss around to coat. Bake uncovered, at 425° F for 30-35 minutes or until tender, stirring it every 15 minutes.

In a Dutch oven pan, saute the onion, the celery and the sage in the remaining oil until tender. Stir in broth and reserved squash. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until heated through. Cool slightly.

In a blender, puree the soup in batches until smooth. Return to the pan; heat through if needed. Serves 8.

:::

This recipe comes with Parmesan croutons to go with it. We chose not to make the croutons when we served it, but here's the recipe in case you do! Adding the croutons makes the soup a 3 point dish.

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Parmesan Croutons
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2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 Tablespoon minced fresh sage or 1 teaspoon rubbed sage

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups French bread (1/2 inch cubes)

additional grated Parmesan cheese, optional

cooking spray

In a small bowl, combine the cheese, oil, sage and garlic. Add bread cubes and spritz with cooking spray; toss to coat. Place on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 425° F for 5-8 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Serve with soup and sprinkle additional Parmesan cheese if desired.

recipe credit: Healthy Cooking magazine, October/November 2009, p.40

Butternut Squash Soup with Coconut and Sauteed Scallops

  
One of the most exotic places in the world I think are the Spice Islands. Located in the eastern part of the Indonesian archipelago, the names are evocative: Moluccas and Banda. Even the word “archipelago” seems exotic to me. I once read a book about the Spice Islands trade and the discovery of entire islands covered entirely in nutmeg or clove trees. The voyages to these places took a year, literally to the opposite end of the earth, and greeting them were South Pacific seas dotted with lush, verdant islands of tropical wonder.
Of course, the reality was much harsher. What sane person would want to ride a small, wooden boat across the ocean for a year, without air conditioning or a bath, only to confront steamy jungles, deadly local populations, and deadlier disease? And I don’t even particularly like nutmeg. Nonetheless, nutmeg is the spice of our fall season used to flavor our autumn squashes and pumpkins. I have several recipes for butternut squash soup and all are hearty and warming. But a new recipe caught my eye as a way to turn traditional fall into an exotic adventure. Another recipe from the “New York Cooks: 100 Recipes from the City’s Best Chefs,” this recipe is from Cyril Renaud, chef and owner of Fleur de Sel on East 20th Street in Manhattan. It pairs butternut squash soup with scallops, and seasons with coconut, in addition to the nutmeg. I cut the nutmeg he recommended in half from 2 tbsp to 1 tbsp and still found it too much. Thus, I recommend only 1 tsp of nutmeg, but add as much as you want. I also could not get my coconut milk to froth as he recommended, so I just added a dollop in the middle of the soup to swirl around to taste. Altogether, something fun and different. Serves 2

Ingredients:
4 tbsp olive oil
6 shallots, peeled and sliced into long, thin strips
1 whole butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/3 cup coconut flakes
1 tbsp nutmeg
2 tsp salt
1 tsp white pepper
1 qt milk
8 large scallops
2 tbsp coconut milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350o degrees. In a pot over low heat, heat 2 tbsp of oil, add shallots and saute until translucent. Raise heat to medium and add squash, sauteeing for 10 minutes while stirring periodically. Meanwhile, spread the coconut flakes evenly over a cookie sheet and bake for a few minutes to dry out. Grind the flakes in a mixer to make a powder. Take care not to grind too long or the sugars will congeal and the coconut will stick together. Add the coconut, nutmeg, salt and pepper to the squash. Pour in the milk and bring to a simmer, cooking a further 15 minutes or until the squash is very soft. Strain the squash, reserving the milk, and blend in a blender until a smooth consistency. Add some of the cooking milk if the soup needs more moisture to become a creamy soup. Set aside.
In a medium fry pan, heat 2 tbsp of oil until it begins to ripple. Season scallops with salt and pepper and add to pan, searing on one side for 3 minutes or until golden brown. Turn over the scallops and cook a minute or two longer.
To plate, ladle soup into shallow bowls. Place 4 scallops in each bowl, and spoon a dollop of coconut milk in between the scallops. Serve.

Sunday Fun Day!

Despite Sunday's ending the week...meaning another work week ahead, I love the freedom of Sunday's (especially if you play hookie from church as much as Mark and I...oops!). Typically, I always go grocery shopping on Sundays and typically, I play hockey on Sunday's. What more could a girl ask for? Cooking! I also (almost) ALWAYS cook...plenty...on Sunday's. Today was NO exception.

After our trip for groceries, I got lunches lined up for the week. I've been wanting to try this Tuna Edamame Salad for MONTHS now, and I finally grabbed the magazine rip out from my desk on Friday before dashing out for the weekend. I believe I found it in Today's Dietitian (great read, btw!). 

Tuna Edamame Salad

Prep time: 5 minutes (pretty accurate, too!)

Cook time: NONE :O )

Ingredients:

1 cup edamame, cooked by package instructions (i.e. the microwave)

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1 cup carrots, shredded

6 ounces tuna, packed in water, drained

1/2 cup golden raisins

1/4 cup red onion, diced (I used more like 1/2 cup - yum!)

1/4 cup reduced-fat Italian dressing

Directions:

Combine all ingredients and toss with dressing. Serve with pita bread or whole wheat crackers, if desired.

Nutrition Information (per 1 cup serving): 

210 calories, 16 gm protein, 27 gm carbohydrates, 4 gm fiber, 3 gm fat, 0 gm saturated fat, 0 gm trans fat, 25 mg cholesterol, 350 mg sodium

 

Edamame (also known as soy beans) -- high in protein, LOW in calories! 

Oh, and REALLY delicious!

 

 Tuna Edamame Salad dished up and ready for lunches to-go!

I also got some on-the-go breakfasts ready for the week: Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes made with Southaven Farms Chocolate Mix. Definitely a fun breakfast for the week ahead! 

See? Healthy. Look at all that zucchini! Mmm!

Southaven Farms Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes - YUM!

Each Chocolate Zucchini Cupcake contains 95 calories, 2 gm fat, 3 gm fiber, and 17 gm carbohydrates. Even 2 delicious cupcakes is not only low in calories, but low in fat and high in fiber! Oh, and chocolate...chocolate, too!!!

Last night we got majorly spoiled at our friend's house. While I was unable to thoroughly partake in the wonderful wine selections, check out this cheese platter....

Firstly, the platter is a portion of a wine barrel (NEATO!!!!!!). There is Gouda, Parmesano Ramano, prosciutto crudo (took me back to Italy days!), sheep (?) cheddar, and a sheep milk cheese.

All. were. DELICIOUS!!!!

We were then spoiled with the most delicious steak I've ever had (and I'm not a beef person at all!) -- fillets (NO fat on the meat) with Oregon bleu cheese melted on top with sides of grilled asparagus and butternut squash. Heavenly! Divine! Being a slacker blogger, I didn't have my camera with me at dinner...sorry!

Tonight for supper I made a new recipe: Laughing Cow Alfredo with shrimp, asparagus, and broccoli over whole wheat pasta. It turned out REALLY well -- thumbs up from husband!

Laughing Cow Alfredo

6 wedges laughing cow cheese (I used half "light")
1 cup skim milk
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp reduced cal margarine
1 tsp garlic powder
6 oz cooked chicken breast (I substituted shrimp)
2 cups steamed broccoli (I had 3-4 cups broccoli and 4-5 stalks of asparagus)
6 oz of Ronzoni Smart Taste pasta (I used whole-wheat linguine)

Put cheeses, milk, butter and garlic powder in small sauce pan and set on low. Cook for 20 minutes until smooth and creamy, stirring frequently.

Cook pasta according to directions.

Once sauce is done, add broccoli and chicken, stir to combine. Combine with cooked pasta and serve.

 

Serving dish of dinner...mmmm! Leftovers, too : )

...and some Asiago cheese garlic bread...Mmm!!!

Also on the menu for the week:

Crockpot Chicken Mexican Soup

Tuna (whole wheat!) Noodle Casserole

Organic Whole-Wheat Pizza with turkey pepperoni

Stay tuned for those recipes!! Have a wonderful start to your week! Oh, and wish me luck in my BOOT CAMP classes starting tomorrow - AHHHH!

My week...

Hello everybody! How was your weekend? mine was pretty fun!

Sorry for the lack of post during this week, I'm always doing a lot of things. Right now I'm looking for a work, and I am a little nervous because I have an interview tomorrow to work in a clothing store, Zara ... Wish me luck, please!

This week I did several things, and I thought to summarize a bit what I did with photographs, so that you know how it was. In my next entry will finish with the last two days of the salón del Manga de Barcelona.

Monday

I went shopping with Rocío...

I was feeling so colorful... 

Jersey - El corte inglés

Shirt - Zara

Skirt - Miss T Sugar

Tights - Calzedonia

Shoes - Montreal

Bag - Women secret

Navy ribbon - Hand made by Laia.

Tuesday

People fix their hair every day, why not the heart?

Tuesday

 

Chocolates... 

Friday

 

An evening with my lovely Vic...

And later, Steampunk party!!

 

 

 

Saturday

 

Esther, Laia and I watching with disgust the inputs of a party where we were only an hour ... thank goodness we saved the night in Demonix!

Sunday

 

The Flea Market, everything is second hand.

My creepers...

A badged that I liked...

 

 

Some of the things that I bought... I'm wearing the knit tomorro for my job interview... I'm so nervous, yaw!

I'll tell you about the job interview tomorrow...!! Have a nice monday/sunday night!

langkah kanan

ppl! thee. i woke up at 549am. and, solat. bgn2 tgk hp atas lantai bwh katil.

mmg sian la hp kan. baru tukar housing da berkecai lg. sorry hp '-___-

ok. then, i was so sleepy. so tdow blk til 825am. mandi a.s.a.p. and,

so, we went to endah parade sri petaling 4 the bowling tournament.

and guess what. mmg langkah kanan lah hari ni. 1st of all, thanks Allah. =]

we arrived around 9am. and. ok. 1st langkah kanan

since we are 1 of those ppl yg sampai awal, we decided 2 have our breakfast dlu.

there's a group of kak sally's officemate, and, we were sitting beside them.

kma + kak sally ate nasi lemak with kerang, and i had a glass of ice lemon tea.

and then. suddenly boss kak sally belanja breakfast tuh~ wheee. alhamdulilah.

kma siap ckp "kalau taw ambik lauk udang, sotong, ayam sume" haha.

ok. and then, tgk mcm ramai je officemate kak sally. jd segan nak join!

but suddenly ble boss yg panggil, huu, terpakse la buat muke senyum kambing.

and, we were seperate into 10 groups - 3 of us in each group. 2 guys + 1 girl.

i was in group 3, kma in group 4, n kak sally was in group 5. and and. well.

we had 3 games, and guess what? most of them blh tahan hebat kot. grrr~

buat muke 10sen je lah ble rase diri x bape nak hebat. ahah. ok, i had great time.

since most of them r friendly. and. here goes the 2nd langkah kanan -

i did well in the 1st n 2nd round. but then, the last round makin jatuh. haha.

but the other 2 guys from my group did well in the last round. good improvement!

and ok. i was surprised when the boss announced that we got no6 over 10. not bad.

so dpt la hamper. whoaaa. best3. and and. langkah kanan 3 - for individual.

but yar, i did a lot wayyyy better than yesterday. but, rase cam ramai lg terror.

mcm terpinga - pinga ble boss tu panggil sbb dpt no 4/30. wawawawa.

and the ppl keep calling me yuna. dang~ sejak ble yuna gemuk. haha. =P

and, after that, langkah kanan 4 - habis sume tuh. mrka ajak lunch.

they decided to eat at KFC. and yup, fully paid by the contractor. whoaaa.

seronok hey! and the choc cake was superb. thanks kak sally's officemates! =D

almost 3pm, we were home and yar, i'm satisfied. and yes, not to 4get.

4 individual, sy dpt cash. taw3? hamper dpt. cash dpt. thee. excited!

alhamdulilah. lucky me aite. rezeki. wink wink. semuanya.

berkat doa korang! thanks taw! thank u so much.

and u. jgn bomohkan i taw. haha. memain je. u. cptlarh.

i tnggu u sediakan sume mknan yg i nak tuh. haha. =P