My sweet mother-in-law gave us some squash the other night. Honestly, I didn’t even know what kind of squash she had given me, but I thought one might be a butternut squash. Soon the builder and I were chopping and roasting a wonderful soup together. Here is our creation:
1/2 butternut squash (3 c), chopped into 1″ pieces
4-5 mini red, orange, yellow sweet bell peppers, quartered
1/2 onion, chopped
3 tbs olive oil
1 can coconut milk
2 c chicken stock
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp thyme
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp salt
1. Roast squash, onion, and peppers in the olive oil, at 475 degrees for 20-35 minutes.
2. Blend half of the veggies in 1 cup chicken stock and place in large pan. Repeat with remaining veggies and stock.
3. Simmer with remaining ingredients 10-15 minutes. Serves 6-8.
For a hearty meal, add cooked chicken sausage to the soup. (If you are ok with white cheese, this soup tasted wonderful with shredded sharp white cheddar a top).
Giveaway:
As for the mystery squash (pictured above)…I’m looking for it’s name (common names will do…unless you are dying to share the botanical!) and a menu suggestion/recipe for cooking with it. I have 5 of my handmade magazine envelopes to send to the person with the most delectable mystery squash recipe.
You have until Friday January30th at midnight MST to leave your comment and recipe suggestion. I’ll announce a winner sometime on Saturday. Good luck!
the daily delights by katrina berg 
love the soup .. sounds delicious .. Laila .. http://limeandlemon.wordpress.com
Katrina,
You have a spaghetti squash.
To Cook a Spaghetti squash you bake it. Set the oven for 350 degrees. Wash the squash, cut it in half length wise, clean out the seeds prick the skin with a fork and place cut side down on a baking dish (I use a cookie pan) and bake for about one hour or until tender. (Recipes that I have tried in the past say to cook for 30-40 minutes, but I find it to hard and crunchy.) Once you have it cooked scoop it out of its skin and it will look like spaghetti noodles. Top with your favorite pasta sauce and enjoy. (Better homes and Gardens New Cook Book 1998)
Hey! I’m pretty sure it’s a spaghetti squash. I love to pierce it a couple of times, throw it into a hot oven, then scrape out the flesh and serve with butter and parmesan cheese. Yummy. And of course, I’ve used the flesh as a replacement for spaghetti noodles. I love it with spaghetti sauce, but the fam is not as big of a fan.
i have put spaghetti sauce over that squash. yum. i will have to try your soup!
also…thanks for the reminder to do activities with the kids. maybe you mentioned already, but i wonder if you have a set time that you work with them or if it comes up. i too often let it slip by.
i still am working on deciding about allergy testing…soon. anna’s poor bottom! i just can’t figure out what bothers her on my own.
It’s spaghetti sqash. I love love love spaghetti squash! I cut it in half and take out the guts; stab the “shell” with a fork a few times; bake it skin side up in a heated oven at 350 for about an hour; then scoop it out with a fork. Yum! Dan is not a fan. I don’t know he cannot be. But, I’ll eat the whole thing in a couple of days.
I eat it plain. But, I like it best with just a bit of butter and pepper or with some olive oil, parmesan cheese and sauteed veggies (tomatoes, onion, garlic and zuchinni are my favorites). also like it with olive oil/butter and parmesan cheese, or with spaghetti sauce or with pesto sauce or with chicken, peas and a cream sauce. The possiblities are endless…. pretty much anything you can do with pasta you can do with spaghetti squash.
Looking for extra nutrition in your spahetti sauce? If you have plenty/extra baby food (homemade or store bought), I add it into my spaghetti sauce. (I now puree carrots regularly for this use.) My favorites to add are carrots and sweet potatoes. It gets more veggies into my family’s tummy without them having to actually eat the veggies. I also finely chop up spinach (or use frozen if I don;t have fresh) and add it to the sauce. It looks like herbs, so no one notices it. I have been adding a touch of spinach to a lot of meals where it will not be noticed.
butternut squash? that sounds tasty…. never tried them in my recipe, maybe should one day. Nice blog 😀
Guess I’m a little late. I hope your spaghetti squash turns out better than mine. I was all prepared for dinner a few days ago, until Andy whacked into the thing. Pretty on the outside, black on the inside. We had nachos. 🙂
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