Veggie Loaded Soup

This soup recipe is literally loaded with vegetables. The beauty of it is that you can add whichever vegetables you have on hand. If you don't have butternut squash for instance - no worries, just add some zucchini or squash instead,

If you want to keep it super healthy add a splash of milk or coconut cream at the end instead of cream or just leave the dairy out all together.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp unsalted butter

1 large yellow onion, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

6 cloves of garlic, crushed

2 large carrots, diced

3/4 green pepper, diced

1 large potato (any type), chopped

2 cups butternut squash, chopped

2 large bay leaves

1 carton of chicken broth

Salt & pepper to taste

1/2 cup heavy cream, milk, or coconut cream/milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 415 F.

2. In a parchment paper lined sheet pan, toss butternut squash, carrots, and potatoes, with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast until golden brown. You may need to toss the vegetables once or twice to ensure they are browned evenly.

3. In a pot, melt butter then saute chopped onions, green peppers, and celery until onions are translucent.

4. Add crushed garlic and bay leaves to onion mixture and continue sauteing until the onions are browned.

5. Transfer roasted squash, carrots, and potatoes to the soup pot and cover in chicken broth or vegetable broth. Bring the soup to a boil then reduce heat.

6. Remove the bay leaves. Use an immersion blender to blend the soup. You may need to add more liquid depending on the thickness you like.

7. Taste and adjust salt and pepper.

8. Stir in your choice of cream.
   

Tips:

• To feel extra fancy, drizzle in a tiny bit of extra heavy cream when serving and swirl it in with a fork or tooth pick.

• If you don't have chicken broth, just use water or vegetable broth and add some chicken bouillon.