The great fall weather we are enjoying has put me in the mood for soup for dinner.  There’s nothing better on a cool evening than a bowl of hot soup.  Soup can be a nutritious and filling meal for your family, and a great way to sneak in some healthy vegetables.

Soup is an easy way to fix dinner.  You can throw ingredients in a crock-pot for a slow cooking soup, or there are a variety of 30-minute soup recipes.  Canned soup is another option, but be sure to read the labels to find soup with reduced sodium.

Another great thing about soup is that you can use a variety of colorful vegetables to add some great vitamins to your meal.  Vitamin C and the B vitamins are water soluble, meaning that they will dissolve in water.  This can be a problem when cooking vegetables as a side dish, because you can lose those vitamins in the cooking water.  Soup is a great way to retain the vitamins because the vitamins dissolve in the broth that you eat.  It’s a win-win situation.

This week, try out a new soup recipe that is rich in vitamins.  Add a side of whole grain bread and sliced fruit, and you have a really healthy meal for your family.

Squash and Apple Soup

Ingredients:

1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed

1 large onion, peeled and chopped

4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

1 medium apple, peeled, cored, and sliced

1 teaspoon ground ginger

3 cups chicken stock

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1 tablespoon light sour cream

Directions:

1. Preheat over to 400 ˚F. Line a baking dish with parchment paper. Place peeled and cubed squash, sliced apples, chopped onion, and sliced garlic on paper. Sprinkle ginger over all and mix gently. Roast in oven until tender and slightly brown about 40 minutes.

2. Remove from oven and place mixture in a saucepan. Add 2 cups broth and puree with a potato masher or hand blender. Add remaining stock and simmer over medium heat until bubbly.

3. Top with dollop of light sour cream and chopped parsley.