Butternut Squash Soup

I wanted to make something special for my birthday, but nothing too fancy that would require spending half a day in the kitchen. Peter and I both love cream soups, and I've made Butternut Squash Soup only once (I think it was for last Thanksgiving), so it seemed like the best opportunity to repeat it. I found a pretty good recipe on allrecipes.com, and tweaked it a little: added some nutmeg, ginger and parsley to it.

The main course was something basic, but one of my favorites: chicken drumsticks with roasted vegetables, but this time the real highlight of the meal was the soup. Here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

1-2 tablespoon olive oil, or sunflower oil or butter
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3-4 medium potatoes (I used Yukon Gold)
3-4 medium carrots, sliced, cubed, doesn't matter
3 celery stalks, sliced
1 large or 1.5 medium butternut squash
32 oz low sodium vegetable or chicken stock
1-2 vegetable or chicken cubes 
salt and pepper
dash of nutmeg
 one teaspoon powdered ginger
parsley for garnishing
1 tbsp cream or half and half
croutons or toast for serving

Preparation: In a stock pot heat the olive oil (sunflower oil or butter - I used olive oil now, but next time I'll  next time I'll try it with butter). Saute onions until translucent - 3-4 minutes, add all vegetables at once, saute them for a few minutes, add the chicken stock (vegetable stock for a vegetarian version), add 1-2 cups water to cover the vegetables, bring to a boil, add 1-2 chicken or vegetable cubes (optional - you can just add salt and pepper, for a more "natural" flavor) and reduce heat to medium and simmer for about 30 minutes, until all vegetables are cooked through and soft. Almost at the end, add a pinch of nutmeg (as Julia Child would say: you want some nutmeg flavor but don't want people to go: "Ah, nutmeg!"), and a teaspoon of ginger powder. When cooked, remove pot from heat, leave cool a bit before pureeing it with a stick blender (or in a traditional blender). Garnish with parsley and serve with croutons or toast and a little cream (or half and half).

I only used 1.5 out of 2 medium butternut squashes, I roasted the rest along with potatoes and carrots, seasoned with Italian seasoning - basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary-, as Central Market was out of bulk Herbes de Provence; some garlic, olive oil and a tablespoon of lemon juice. Mixed the herbes with some olive oil and lemon juice, salt and pepper, tossed the veggies in the mixture, and also rubbed the chicken drumsticks with it, then roasted the vegetables and chicken in the same casserole, covered, for 30 minutes at 425 degrees, then uncovered for another 45 minutes at 375 degrees, until the chicken skins turned red and crispy.