ProACTIVE Holiday Recipe!

This week's recipe comes from our massage therapist Nicole for Spicy Butternut Squash Soup!

 Ingredients:

 2 to 3 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 of a medium butternut squash, seeded

1 1/2 bell pepper (I used 1/2 each of yellow, red, and orange)

2 small sweet potatoes, peeled

1 medium onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

6 cups chicken stock

2 Tbsp minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce

1/2 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Coat the squash, bell peppers, and sweet potatoes with 1 1/2 tbsp oil and roast until very tender, approximately 1 hour.  Remove and let cool.  Remove and discard skin from bell peppers.

In a large pot over med-high heat, add remaining olive oil, onion, celery, carrot and saute approx. 10 - 15 minutes.  Add garlic and saute for approx. 2 minutes.  Add the sweet potatoes, bell peppers, and scoop the flesh from the squash into the pot and stir.  Add 4 cups of the chicken broth, and bring everything to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until vegetables are very tender, approx. 30 minutes.

Turn off heat and use a blender (or if handy, use an immersion blender) to puree the soup until smooth; if needed, add more of the chicken stock to create the desired consistency.  Mix in chipotles (to make soup less spicy, only use the adobo sauce; it adds quite a bit of heat without the peppers) and 1/2 cup sour cream.

Serves 6