Peanut Butter Tomato Soup

It’s not intentional, but I’ve got another peanut butter combo for this week’s recipe. Tomatoes and peanut butter. Mixed together to make comfort soup. Sooooo good. After a hectic week working with 1st graders, it was exactly what I needed 🙂

Peanut Butter Tomato Soup

Ingredients:

1 tbsp avocado oil

1 onion, chopped

1/2 tsp nutmeg

2 (28oz) cans of fire roasted diced tomatoes

2 cups vegetable broth

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large pot, heat the oil. Add in onions and nutmeg and sauté for 5 minutes. Add in tomatoes, vegetable broth, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes. Puree with an immersion blender until at the desired consistency. Stir in peanut butter until melted. Note: In my opinion, this soup tastes best after to has cooled down and is just warm or even cold (you taste the peanut butter best this way!)

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Curried Squash and Spinach Soup (Paleo)

Snowy Saturday = (sweats + Netflix + hot soup) +  x

x = homework

I’m leaning more on the “-x” for the equation.

Anyway, comfort food is a must on a snow day and this soup definitely fits the bill!

Curried Squash and Spinach Soup (Paleo)

Ingredients:

1 tbsp avocado oil

2 cups onions, chopped

2/3 cup celery chopped in small pieces

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp turmeric

4 cups chicken broth (vegetable broth if vegetarian or vegan) 

2 cups water

4 cups cooked and pureed butternut squash

salt and pepper

5 tbsp tomato paste

5 cups fresh spinach

Directions:

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add in onions, celery, and garlic and sauté for 10 minutes. Add in curry and turmeric and sauté until fragrant, about an additional minute. Add in chicken broth, water, squash, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil and allow to simmer for 20 minutes. Afterwards, use an immersion blender to make smooth. Stir in tomato paste and cook for another 10 minutes. Add in spinach and allow to wilt before serving.

Cauli’ N Cheese

As for many people, Mac n’ Cheese was always a comfort food in my house when I was little. And so, I wanted to take a crack at making a more grown-up version. Therefore I eliminated the cartoon-shaped noodles and replaced them with (you know me) cauliflower!And added some sun-dried tomatoes to complete the look. Very classy and mature, if I must say 😉

Not to say kids won’t like this too. I’m sure if I had been exposed to this when I was little, I would have deemed this comfort-like food as well!

Cauli’ N Cheese

Ingredients:

4 cups cauliflower, chopped into small florets 

2/3 cup plain yogurt 

1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 cup shredded provolone cheese

1/2 tsp paprika 

1/2 tsp garlic powder 

salt and pepper, to taste

sun-dried tomatoes 

Directions: 

Steam cauliflower until you can pierce it with a fork. Set aside. 

Combine yogurt, cheeses, paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a pot (Note: make sure to do this before placing over heat). Place over low heat and stir constantly until cheese has melted. Take off heat, stir in desired amount of sun-dried tomatoes, and pour over steamed cauliflower. 

Butternut Squash Mac’N Cheese

It’s been one of those weeks that I’m glad is finally over. Bad news on top of bad news. Ugh. That saying, When it rains, it pours, is so true (both figuratively and literally) this week. But hey- what are you going to do?

Answer to that hypothetical question: Cook your sorrows away! All the while pretending to know and sing all the words to Don McLean’s American Pie. 

And this transitioned into making some good ol’ comfort food. Like, mac’ n cheese comfort.

Normally, I avoid pasta dishes but… it was a rough week. And this was very much needed.

Still, I wanted to do some experimenting and try out butternut squash as part of a cheese sauce.

And it was a yummy success! Next time I make the sauce (which I predict will be pretty soon), I’m thinking I’ll top it over some steamed cauliflower…

Butternut Squash Mac’N Cheese

Ingredients:  

10 oz elbow macaroni

1 tbsp ghee

1 lb asparagus, broken into 1 in pieces

1 small onion, chopped

*1 and 1/4 cup pureed butternut squash

2 tbsp mustard (mine contained horseradish)

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp paprika

salt and pepper, to taste

7 oz cheddar cheese, shredded

*To make puree, slice the butternut squash in half long ways and place face-down (peel side up) on a foil-lined baking pan. Roast in the oven at 425 degrees for 45 minutes. Flip face-up and roast for 10 more minutes. Once cooled, scoop out squash flesh and blend in a food processor until smooth. 

Directions: 

Melt ghee in a deep skillet or pot and add in asparagus. Cover with a lid and let cook for 15 minutes, stirring every so often.

Meanwhile, cook macaroni according to box instructions and set aside.

Add in onions to the asparagus and cook for 5 more minutes. Mix in squash, mustard, and chicken broth. Cook for 5 minutes, adding garlic powder, paprika, and salt and pepper. Turn off heat and stir in cheese until melted. Pour mixture over macaroni, mix all together, and serve.

Mashed Butternut Squash with Spinach and Goat Cheese

I hope everybody enjoyed their holidays! I sure did. Next up is New Years! Although I am never tired of sweets, I figured it would be good to veer away from those for awhile. Instead, let’s go for something silky, which is the best way I can describe this dish. So silky, in fact, that it seems to slide down the throat without any effort. I’m definitely making this the next time I have a sore throat (which might be next week with all the yelling I do as the ball drops 🙂 )

Mashed Butternut Squash with Spinach and Goat Cheese 

Ingredients:

1 medium butternut squash

1 tbsp olive oil

5 oz fresh spinach leaves

2 oz goat cheese

salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and cover a shallow baking sheet with foil. (Note: use a pan with sides- the squash releases liquid while roasting and it’s so not fun cleaning up the mess). Cut the butternut squash once horizontally and once vertically, so it’s cut into quarters. Remove its seeds and “guts”. Place the quarters face-down and peel-side up on the baking sheet. Roast in the oven for 1 hour. Heat oil in a pan and sauté spinach until it is withered. Set aside. After the squash is done, hollow out the insides (don’t burn your hands!) and place in a food processor. Puree until smooth. (Likewise, you can simply place the insides in a bowl and mash until smooth. Add in spinach and then mix in goat cheese until melted. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Me and my siblings (I’m the one in the middle!)