Butternut Squash Soup by Alex

It is getting cold outside!  Tomorrow is going to be even colder.....So, my go to is Soup!  The only way to avoid all those extra ingredients and sodium found in store bought soup is to make your own.  Here is a recipe for a delicious butternut squash soup brought to you by Balanced Bites

Ingredients:

1 Butternut squash, roasted

1 Tbsp bacon fat, coconut oil or ghee

1 yellow onion, diced

4 cloves of garlic, peeled & smashed

celtic sea salt

2 pinches of dry sage

black pepper

16oz chicken or vegetable broth

2 Tbsp coconut milk (optional but recommended)

2 Tbsp water (or more for thinner soup)

Preparation

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

Halve the squash and place it face down in a glass or ceramic roasting dish about 30-55 minutes. After the squash has been roasting for about 20 minutes, begin to cook the rest of the soup ingredients on the stove-top. 

Use a large pot and sautée the bacon fat and onions until the onions begin to brown on the edges. Then place the garlic in with the onions and add salt, sage and pepper. Allow this to cook for just couple of minutes to take the edge off of the raw garlic then add your chicken stock, coconut milk and water.

By now your squash should be roasted and you can add it to the mixture and stir together. When it's combined, add the orange juice as the last thing you do before you turn off the heat. 

Allow the soup to cool a bit and then pour it into a blender and whir it up until it's smooth. Be careful not to fill the blender to the top when you're blending hot liquids as the steam tends to expand the liquid when you blend it - blend in batches if necessary.

This makes 4-6 servings depending on how big you serve up the bowl!