Curried Butternut Squash Soup

OK, so it's been quite a while since I last posted.  It's been a busy couple of years, but I suppose everyone is busy, so I guess it's not the best excuse.  I have done A LOT of cooking and experimenting in the last year and a half, and every time I think "I should really blog about this."  I guess I just wasn't ready.  Well, I'm back in business and ready to get down to it.  Here goes:

I LOVE THE FALL!!!

Recently I began receiving boxes of organic fruits and vegetables from Washington's Green Grocer.  I was super excited to find this service since a lot of the co-ops around here are very expensive and far away.  We have plenty of farmer's markets here in Northern Virginia, but some of them are held during the week.  Those of us who have full time jobs obviously can't make it to those.  The others are on Saturday mornings.  Now, I probably could get to one of these, but, well, I am NOT a morning person.  On Saturdays I like to sleep in...and getting to a farmer's market that is over by noon is not my idea of fun.  So, I now get produce boxes delivered on Wednesdays. 

The best thing about Washington's Green Grocer is that they provide local produce (for the most part), so there are always a lot of whatever is in season.  Right now I've been getting a lot of squash and apples.  These things are the best part of fall!  The last two boxes I received had butternut squash.  I am a HUGE fan of butternut squash and one of my favorite things on a crisp fall evening is butternut squash soup.  A couple of years ago I found a recipe in a Pampered Chef catalog for a soup that had curry in it.  I am not the biggest fan of curry, but I was intrigued.  I found that it did not overwhelm the soup and gave it a nice spice which my husband and I very much enjoyed.  I've made it many times and I've tweaked here and there.  The first couple of batches were too sweet, probably because of the type of onions and apples I used.  After some trial and error, my latest batch is probably the best I've ever made.  Tonight, I'm happy to share it.

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

4 tbsp butter 

2 large onions, diced (try not to use sweet onions, otherwise the soup will be too sweet)

2 medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed

2 gala apples, peeled and diced

1 1/2 tbsp curry (I used muchi curry powder from Whole Foods)

1/4 cup brown sugar (not packed)

1 tsp salt

6 cups vegetable stock (you can use chicken stock instead if you choose)

1 8oz package light cream cheese

Salt to taste

 In a large stock pot, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the diced onions and sweat them for several minutes until tender.  Next add the butternut squash, apples, brown sugar, curry powder, and salt.  Stir and let cook for 3 minutes or so.  Pour in the vegetable stock and stir.  Allow to simmer on medium heat for about 30 minutes or until the apples and squash are tender enough to puree.

Remove the pot from the heat.  Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until smooth.  If you don't have an immersion blender, you can transfer the soup to a stand blender in small batches (This takes longer and is a lot messier, so if you don't have a stick blender yet, I highly recommend you get one.  I use it ALL the time.  You will not regret it.)  Cut the cream cheese into quarters and add to pureed soup.  Stir with whisk until cream cheese has melted and soup is smooth and creamy.  You may want to add more salt to taste depending on your preferences.  

The soup will be ready to eat immediately. 

I hope to be a more active blogger this time around.  If anyone out there even bothers to read this, I hope you enjoy it.  I love suggestions and recommendations, so please feel free to help me out!

ENJOY!!

PS:  Next time, I'll try to add a picture ;-)