Slow Cooker: Curried Butternut Squash Soup

Curried Butternut Squash Soup
Originally uploaded by Marni Molina

First, allow me express my gratitude for the warm welcome back to blogdome. It means a lot to me that y'all are still here. Now, on with the show.

I love using my slow cooker. I love how easy it is. I love how the smell of whatever's bubbling away in there builds throughout the day to an olfactory climax 'round dinner time. Love love love. Especially when it's the type of recipe that allows me to dump ingredients into a pot, hit a button and forget about it for hours. I'm pleased to report that this is one of those recipes.

It's not, however, a perfect recipe. In fact, if I make it again, I have some planned alterations in mind. But I'll get to those in a minute.

Curried Butternut Squash Soup
Makes 6-8 Servings
About 10 minutes prep time

• 2 pounds butternut squash (or pumpkin), rinsed, peeled, seeded and chopped into 1-inch cubes
• 2 firm, crisp apples, peeled, seeded and chopped (whatever you've got laying around)
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 5-6 cups veggie stock
• 1 tablespoon curry powder, sweet or hot
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup chopped dried cranberries (optional)

1. Add squash, apples and onion to the slow cooker.
2. Pour the stock, curry powder and cloves on top. Give it a gentle stir.
3. Cook on HIGH for 4 hours or on LOW for 5-5 1/2 hours until the veggies are tender.
4. Using an immersion or traditional blender, blend the soup to desired consistency. Add salt and black pepper.
5. Garnish individual bowls with cranberries (optional).

I served mine piping hot with some ciabatta bread on a TV tray in front of the season finale of Being Human, the BBC version. Feel free to serve yours with whatever artisanal bread and television show you like.

This recipe was tasty. Not OMGdelicious, but tasty. As you may or may not have noticed, it's super healthy with absolutely no added fat, so it may be worth tinkering with. Which brings me to my planned alterations.

• I think adding a smooth-skinned potato would help make it more creamy and not so obviously broth-based, though the fact that I was cooking with canned stock didn't help.
• Also, I think the 1 tablespoon of curry powder may be better replaced with 1/2 tablespoon curry powder with 1/2 - 1 tablespoon cumin.
• I'd also cut the cloves from 1/4 to 1/8 teaspoon.

I hope your weekend was fabulous!