Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

It is winter and there is nothing I enjoy more than a great bowl of homemade soup!  It has been my goal this winter to find some great homemade soups that follow our clean eating lifestyle. 

Recently, we had friends visiting from Maine.  When they arrived, they had only planned on staying 4 days, but due to some unforeseen circumstances, they ended up staying for about 10 days.  I sincerely enjoyed having them here and am so grateful we were able to spend the time together.

While they were here, she made a roasted butternut squash soup.  I don't know about you, but I tend to have a list of meals/foods I want to try sometime.  Butternut Squash Soup has been on that list for a VERY long time.  So, needless to say, I was so excited when she made the soup and was even more excited when I tasted it and realized how WONDERFUL it was.  The next step was for me to figure out good swaps for a couple of the ingredients she used.  So, that is exactly what I did today!

Below is the recipe I came up with.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients:
1 Large Butternut Squash (I used one that was about 2-3 pounds)
1 Medium Yellow Bell Pepper, seeded
1 Medium Red Bell Pepper, seeded
1 Medium Orange Bell Pepper, seeded
1 Medium Onion
2 Large or 3-4 Small/Medium Carrots
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1-2 tsp. Ground Cumin, to taste
1-2 tsp. Garlic Powder, to taste
Fresh Ground Black Pepper, to taste
Sea Salt, to taste
1-2 tsp. Dried Oregano
1-2 tsp. Dried Basil (optional)
4 cps. No/Low Sodium Chicken Broth
1/2 cp. Unsweetened Almond Milk
4 Tbsp. Greek Yogurt

Directions:
-  Pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees.
-  Roughly chop the butternut squash, all bell peppers, the onion, and carrots. 
-  Place the veggies on a baking sheet with edges (I used 2 baking sheets to begin the roasting process). 
-  Drizzle the olive oil over the chopped veggies and sprinkle the veggies with the spices to your liking.
-  Place the veggies in the pre-heated oven for 90 minutes to 2 hours.  About an hour through the cooking time, turn the veggies over and combine the 2 baking sheets to 1 and continue cooking for about 30-60 minutes longer, or until the veggies are tender.
-  Once the veggies are cooked tender, take them out of the oven and let them cool slightly. 

-  After the veggies cool, place them in a food processor and blend until smooth.  You will need to add about 1/2 - 1 cup of chicken broth to help get it smooth.  Then pour into a saucepan.
-  Once in the saucepan, add the remaining chicken broth, almond milk and Greek Yogurt.  Stir to combine and then simmer until heated through.
- ENJOY!!!!