Butternut Squash Soup with Pepitas and Ground Pistachios Recipe

I don’t often post meals or savory dishes here, but it’s not because I never make them.  I just can’t seem to get decent pictures when trying to get dinner on the table and I find photographing savory food is a lot harder than snapping a couple photos of some delicious cookies or a piece of cake.  It’s just me though because there are some beautiful savory pictures out there in food blogging land.  After making this Butternut Squash Soup today though, I was pleased with the pictures and even more happy about how delicious it is, so I decided I had to share it.

I watched The Rachael Ray Show today and she made this soup.  I just happened to have half a butternut squash in the fridge and decided to make the soup.  Even though I knew no one else at my house would eat it.  It worked out well for me to have this soup and make a frozen pizza for the boys.  Kevin is out late helping Scott get caught up on some math at school and they are going to stop and grab something for dinner.  Win win. 

You’ll think win-win, too, if/when you make this soup.  Here’s the link for Rachael Ray's Soup, but I made some changes, so I’ll write up my version for you.  Can you guess what might be different from her soup?  What?  Did you say onions?  Well, then you’re right.  Rachael’s soup has two onions in it.  And while I feel that I’m really branching out now and then when it comes to onions, I do not like when onions take over the whole flavor of something like butternut soup.  I’ve tried a soup once and actually braved it and put the onion in and did not like the soup at all.  It tasted more like onion soup with a little squash in it.  But to each his own.  I do have an aversion to onions and you might feel different.

That said, I did put one medium shallot in my soup—so there! ;) Here’s my recipe.

Butternut Squash Soup with Pepitas and Ground Pistachios, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!, adapted from Rachael Ray

half of a large butternut squash (or a small one)

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

pinch or two of cayenne pepper (optional).

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1 celery stalk, chopped

2 large carrots, peeled and chopped

1 medium shallot, peeled and chopped

2 large cloves of garlic, minced

1 quart (32 ounces) chicken stock

2 pinches saffron threads (optional)

1 teaspoon lemon zest

pepitas, roasted—for garnish

1/2 cup pistachios, ground—for garnish

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Peel and cut squash into chunks (about 2 inches pieces).  Toss the squash with extra virgin olive oil, lay pieces flat on a baking sheet.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper and cayenne.  Roast in oven for 30 minutes, until soft all the way through and the pieces are beginning to brown. 

In the meantime, in a large pot (saucepan or Dutch oven), heat a little more olive oil and add the celery and carrots.  Salt and pepper them and saute for 2-3 minutes.  Add the shallot and cook another 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the garlic and saffron and saute another minute.  Pour in the chicken stock and lemon zest and stir to combine.  Let simmer over medium heat until the squash is finished roasting. 

Add the squash to the soup and put through the blender in increments, you don’t want to fill the blender too full with hot liquid.  You can also use a handheld immersion blender if you have one.  Blend each amount until smooth and return all of it to the pot, simmer on low until ready to serve.  Fill soup bowls with soup and garnish with pepitas and pistachios.  Serves 4-6.

  Rachael Ray mentioned that the pepitas and especially the ground pistachios make all the difference with this soup and I have to agree—it really added something and tastes fantastic.  But if you don’t happen to have the nuts, don’t let that stop you from making the soup!  You could also add a little cream once it’s blended, but it really doesn’t need it.

I can’t wait to have some more of this for my next lunch and/or dinner!

Banana and Butternut Buttermilk Cake—Secret Recipe Club

I had the pleasure this month for The Secret Recipe Club of making something from Marla’s blog, Family Fresh Cooking!  Sheesh, if you haven’t seen her blog, check it out and imagine trying to pick one thing to make and post.  I spent a lot of time browsing her entire blog and it became quite the challenge deciding what to make because everything looked and sounded so good.  I’ll be back to her blog to try more of her recipes!  I finally settled on a cake—Banana and Butternut Buttermilk Cake.  I was instantly sold on the banana and had some buttermilk I needed to use up.

Believe it or not, I also had a butternut squash that had been in my pantry since last fall and it was still in good condition and waiting to be used.  I decided this was it—banana buttermilk cake with a little butternut squash puree thrown in.  My mind was instantly drawn to my favorite cake--Banana Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake and I knew this one would be good because I love squash and also thought of another favorite cake--Marbled Chocolate Sweet Potato Cake.  I knew the flavor in Marla’s cake would be good—and it sure was!

  

First thing I did was cut up and peel the butternut squash and then roast it in the oven in little 1/2 inch pieces—simple enough.  After that and a quick gathering of the rest of the ingredients and I was in business.  I love that the cake has cardamom and cinnamon.  Marla suggested throwing in some nuts and/or chocolate chips if you’d like and well, I like!  I added 3/4 cup of toasted, chopped pecans and 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips.

This cake had great flavor with just the little added butternut squash (1/2 cup pureed squash) and of course banana, nuts and chocolate.  I used half whole wheat pastry flour and half all purpose flour—which is the same as Marla used.  The cake was baked in a 9-inch springform pan and took 48 minutes.  I would suspect this cake would make a nice breakfast treat, I never had some for breakfast, but it was sure easy to keep snitching from at other times!  Check out Marla’s cake!  Make it!

You can check out more info about The Secret Recipe Club on the link I’ve left above.  Join in.  We are randomly given another blog to choose a recipe from and make it and do so only once a month.  It’s fun.

Kale Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash and Spiced Pecans Recipe and Oven Baked Kale Chips Recipe

We’re going light and healthy today.  I wanted to share this salad with you before I continue with my usual posts of goodies, baked treats and desserts.  I have been LOVING kale chips** lately.  I often make an entire baking sheet full, which is about 1/2 to 3/4 of a bunch of washed, torn kale and could easily eat the whole thing.  Problem lately is that I have two boys who have decided they like them, too, and any time my kids like a vegetable, I let them have as much as they’d like!

So I often have kale in stock and would never even have thought of it as an edible food until the last year or two. ;)  I’ve had it in some soups, but have never tried it raw in a salad, but decided to look around (on the internet) for any ideas and ran into this salad that not only had kale, but also another thing I had in my kitchen pantry that needed to be used.  I bought a butternut squash probably last fall—probably more than six months ago!  And it was still sitting pretty in my cupboard, but I decided that I should use it up.  So I went looking for something light to make with the butternut squash and kale and I found this recipe at Lisa’s blog, Lisa Is Cooking.  I followed most of the recipe, but since it called for raw red onions, of course, I left those out! ;)  I adapted a few other things in the recipe, but for the most part got it from the link to Lisa Is Cooking.  

I love this salad!  Of course, no one else in my family would even try it. grrrr  (Not even the kale chip likers.)  Didn’t bother me—I’ve been enjoying the salad for lunch and dinner for a few days now.  Even if you think you don’t like kale (or squash!) you should give this a try!

Kale Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash and Spiced Pecans, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!, adapted from Lisa at Lisa Is Cooking

1 small butternut squash

2-3 tablespoons  extra virgin olive oil

1  cup pecans

1 egg white

1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (to taste)

1 teaspoon sugar

1 bunch kale

3-4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place the whole squash in the microwave for about 3 minutes.  (You don’t have to do this, but it softens it just a little tiny bit so it is much easier to slice in half.)  Cut it in half and remove the seeds.  Cut each half into half and peel each piece.  Cut each piece into about 3/4 inch cubes.  Toss the cubed squash with about 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Lay the squash in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for about 15 minutes, until it is tender.  Remove from oven and allow to cool. 

In a medium sized bowl, whisk the egg white with the cayenne pepper, sugar and a pinch of salt.  Whisk until the egg white is foamy.  Toss the pecans in the mixture until well coated.  Place the pecans on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper in a single layer (don’t dump the extra egg mixture on the baking sheet).   Toast the pecans in the 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes until they are crisp.  Remove from oven and cool on baking sheet on a wire rack. 

Cut the ribs from each kale leaf.  Then tear each leaf into about one inch pieces.  Wash the leaves in a salad spinner or bowl.  Pick them leaves up out of the bowl so you’re not dumping the dirty water back onto them.  Spin them dry in the salad spinner.  Place the washed/dried kale in a large bowl.  Pour about three tablespoons of balsamic vinegar over them and massage it into the kale with your hands, squeezing it.  This tenderizes the kale.

Add the roasted and cooled squash and pecans to the kale.  Toss to combine.  Add another tablespoon or so of olive oil  and salt and pepper to taste to the salad and toss to coat.  Taste and decide if you’d like a little more vinegar and/or oil and adjust according to taste. 

  

I think this salad has gotten better with age.  I love the taste of the kale as it has softened a little over a day or two.  Kale just might be making an appearance in more salads around here!  As for the butternut squash, stay tuned next week for what I did with a half cup of it pureed!  See in the picture above the kale salad sitting on a plate next to another salad?  I’ll be sharing that soon, too.  It’s quinoa, mango, blueberries…….love it, too!

Now bring on those 4th of July treats! ;)

**Never had Kale Chips?  So easy—try these as a replacement to your favorite store bought potato chips.  You might not be sold at first try—but keep eating them and just like Lays, you won’t be able to eat just one.

Oven Baked Kale Chips, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1/2 bunch of kale, ribs removed and torn into 1-2 inch pieces (washed and dried)

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

parmesan cheese (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Lay the kale on a baking sheet and toss lightly with olive oil and salt and pepper, sprinkle with optional parmesan cheese if desired (I love it!).  (As much in a single layer as you can.)  You can also just add the cheese as soon as you remove the baking sheet from the oven if you’d like.

Bake the kale for 12 minutes.  Check to see if all the pieces are crispy.  Bake another 1-3 minutes if they are not all crispy.  Sometimes I remove the ones that are and leave the ones that just need another couple minutes.

Put the warm, crisp kale chips on a plate and try not to eat them all!  Healthy!