Butternut Squash Apple Soup

This Monday we are on the letter "O" for Meatless Mondays from A to Z and "O" is for Onions.

Similar to last week's Nutmeg post, onion is a common ingredient I use in many dishes, but not as the main component.  I do not like onions at all, unless they are well-cooked into a main dish. This weeks post does not really highlight onions.  But that is okay because it highlights two of my favorite fall ingredients, butternut squash and apples.  This is a great fall dish, especially with Thanksgiving coming up!

I've seen a lot of recipes online for Butternut Squash Apple Soup so I took bits and pieces of ingredients from each that I thought I would like best and estimated on the spices.  Here is the recipe I followed to make my soup:

Ingredients:

• 1 butternut squash, about 3 pounds (I used butternut squash that was already prepared and cubed)
• 3 apples
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• pepper and salt, to taste

Directions:

1. If using fresh butternut squash, peel and remove all seeds; then chop it into pieces.
2. Core and chop the apples.
3. Chop the onions into chunks.
4. In a large pot, combine squash, apples, onion, and vegetable broth.  Bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.
6. Remove from heat and let it slightly cool.  
7. In small batches, transfer soup to a blender and puree until smooth.
8. Once pureed, season soup with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cayenne, and salt and pepper.

This would be great topped with hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, squash seeds, etc.

Also, several of the recipes I saw online also included carrots and celery.  That seems like a great idea to add more vegetables!  I might give that a try next time.  If I do, I'll update this post!