Butternut Squash Soup

This certainly wasn't my favorite paleo dish (but I'm kind of biased since I'm not much into soups in the first place), but it hit the spot one cold night while curled up in bed watching a movie with Coleman. I'd never had butternut squash before, but he'd insisted on buying two the last time we went to YDFM and this seemed an easy enough recipe to gamble some wasted time on if I didn't like it. (Recipe adapted from one found on Paleo Mama's Cave Chick Cuisine.)

Ingredients:

Soup:
1 large butternut squash
32-oz. box of chicken stock
1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. corriander
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 cup coconut milk

Seeds:
seeds from the squash
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. paprika

Directions:

Split the squash lengthwise and pull out the seeds and pulp (much as you would with a spaghetti squash). Set the seeds aside for later use.

Spread a tsp of evoo on a foil-lined baking sheet and place the squash flat-side down on the sheet. Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes. Once the squash is soft and caramelized, remove from the oven and let cool slightly. Flip over the halves and scoop out the center (the original recipe suggested an ice cream scoop, but a regular spoon worked just fine).

Put into a stock pot and add chicken stock and spices. Puree the squash into the broth - you can either use a stick blender if you have one or do as I did and puree it in batches in a regular blender. You're looking for a creamy consistency here, so make sure to break up any large chunks. Cook over medium heat until soup is warmed throughout.

While your soup is heating, wash the goop off the seeds and pat dry. In a bowl, combine seeds with garlic powder, salt, pepper and paprika. Spread out in one layer on a lightly greased (more evoo) baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Once soup is throughly heated, stir in 1/2 cup of coconut milk. Garnish with the toasted spiced seeds. As could be expected, I added some crumbled bacon as well. Great mix of flavors.