Butternut Squash & Apple Bisque

In my last post, I shared a photo of a pot of soup I had simmering on the stove during a snowstorm. 

Since then, we've had days in the mid 60's mixed with nights in the low 20's....it's the weirdest weather, no doubt!

 

Today is chilly and raw...and tonight will be one of those 20 degree nights....but later in the week we are getting warm weather once more. 

How am I supposed to know what to wear....or cook....with this kind of weird weather?

The sky this morning was so glorious, and I could see it was snowing on the peak in the distance. Just the perfect way to start the week, to have the beauty of nature hit you straight in the face when you walk out the door. 

Meanwhile, it's Halloween and I have the perfect autumn soup recipe for you! I had many of my wonderful readers inquire about this recipe when they spotted the photo in my last post, so here it is, in all its easy-peasy glory. 

By the way, I do have another butternut squash soup recipe on the blog, but it's quite different from this one - you can view that recipe by clicking here. 

I started by peeling and cutting a butternut squash into cubes. They also sell frozen butternut squash cubes at most supermarkets that would be perfect for this recipe, if you want to save yourself some work. 

Next I grabbed a couple of apples, Red Delicious because that's what I had. They got peeled and sliced into the pot. 

Next came three good sized onions, cut into chunks. And most of a bag of baby carrots. 

Some of the carrots went into my tummy as a snack. 

For this soup, I didn't start off by sauteing anything, I just threw it all into the pot and covered it with my homemade chicken broth, put the lid on, and let it simmer away. 

I checked it by poking a fork into the veggies after about a half an hour of simmering on low, but the carrots were still pretty firm. 

Carrots can be pretty stubborn at times!

No worries....it was snowing out and I had nowhere to be. I went back to reading my book. Don't you just love days like that? 

When everything was nice and tender, I gave it a whiz with my immersion blender until it was nice and smooth. 

This soup doesn't need milk or cream to make it decadent....it's absolutely amazing without any added fat at all. 

I seasoned it with a sprinkle of cinnamon, a little chili powder, some pepper, and some smoked paprika. I tasted it as I was seasoning it, to see what else it may need. 

Honestly, my broth had so much flavor this soup truly didn't need a ton added to it. 

And the wonderful thing? For those of us who are trying to lose a few pounds (ummmm....ME!) this soup is pretty much the nectar of the Gods! If you are following Weight Watchers, like I am, it's a zero point soup. 

We all need a few more zero point soups in our life, don't you think? 

Now, if I could only find zero point cheese and chocolate, I'd be in heaven.