White Bean and Squash Soup

Soup season is officially here!

This is a great soup to make if you are looking for something quick and easy.  It is full of protein with 2 cans of beans, seasonal with the squash and flavorful with the herbs. In other words, the  perfect comfort food for the fall.  You can switch up the kind of squash you use, but delicata is a bit on the sweet side, so depending on the squash you  use, you can make a more earthy soup ( hello acorn) or creamy ( butternut).  Feel free to experiment with all the different kinds of squash that the fall season has to offer.

This is also a one pot meal, and you can make it oil free by sautéing the veggies in water or broth so it is super healthy.  It’s ready in 30 minutes and you can prep the veggies ahead of time, but really you are only cutting the squash and onion (and maybe the garlic, although I do love the jars of pre-chopped garlic).

Homemade vegetable broth would put this over the top; feel free to check out my recipe for that (save those carrot tops and other assorted veggie pieces you would normally throw out and keep them in the freezer till you have several cups).  Also, if you are using fresh thyme and rosemary instead of dried, you will need to triple the measurement as dried herbs have a much more intense flavor than fresh herbs. You might also want to add the fresh herbs near the end instead of at the beginning as they do not need to be rehydrated the same as the dried herbs do.

If you have thyme or parsley in your kitchen instead of thyme and rosemary, you can swap them out for the thyme and rosemary.  Really any combination of those four herbs would work well in this recipe.

Remember that the smaller you cut the squash, the faster the soup will be ready as the beans, broth and herbs need minimal time to cook.

Ingredients:

• 1 can cannelloni beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can butter beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 delicata squash, cut into 1/2″ cubes (approximately 3 cups)
• 1  1/2 cups diced onion
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 Tablespoon dried thyme
• 1 Tablespoon dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups (1 box) vegetable broth ‘

Directions:

1. In a large pot over medium heat, sauté the squash, onions, thyme, rosemary and salt till onions are tender Use a splash of oil or 1/4 cup of water to saute, stirring frequently (about 5 minutes).
2. Add garlic and saute 30 seconds to 1 minute until garlic is fragrant.
3. Add beans and broth, stir and bring to a boil. Cover, then lower heat to a simmer for 20-30 minutes or until squash is tender but not mushy.
4. Adjust salt and serve.

Enjoy!