Squash Soup

Difficulty: Medium

Time: 30 Minutes

Serves: 8

This is the perfect wintertime meal. It is cozy beyond belief, filling, and creamy. The soup is amazing by itself, but also pairs beautifully with a variety of toppings! I chose to add shrimp, bacon, and edamame for protein, flavor, and texture.

Ingredients:

For the soup:

1 butternut squash

1 can unsweetened coconut milk

1 clove garlic

1tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

For the toppings:

1 lb deveined and shelled shrimp

10oz bag frozen edamame

8 strips bacon

Directions:

Step 1: Turn the butternut squash on its side and slice off the top (stem) and bottom. Discard these pieces, and continue to slice the squash in 1-2 inch thick slices. Cut the skin off each slice, and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Cut the skinless, seedless squash into 1-2 inch cubes. (I promise, this was the hardest part!)

Step 2: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the squash, and boil for about 10 minutes. You know that it is ready when the squash is easily pierced with a fork.

Step 3: Peel and chop the garlic clove. Add the olive oil to a pan, and cook over medium heat until the garlic pieces are lightly browned.

Step 4: Add the cooked squash, coconut milk, garlic, and salt to a blender/food processor. Blend until smooth. Eat as-is, or complete the following steps for the toppings!

Step 5: Heat the same pan that the garlic was cooked in to medium, and add the shrimp. Cook until the outside is pink, and the flesh is white in color rather than clear. Flip the shrimps about every 3 minutes for a total of 9 minutes (more or less depending on the size of the shrimp).

Step 6: Pull out the shrimp, and in the same pan, cook the bacon. Once it is cooked, roughly chop the bacon.

Step 7: Cook the frozen edamame according to package instructions. Holding the stem with one hand, pinch the shell starting at the top, and slide downwards to remove the beans.

Step 8: Put it all together, and enjoy!

#dinner #lunch #glutenfree #dairyfree #soup #squash