It is so much easier to roast a butternut squash then chopping it into chunks don’t you think? And roasted garlic? I could easily eat this for the rest of my life – well, any way you want to serve garlic really, it is my most favorite thing right along side mushrooms. Mmm. The easiest soup anyone can make is minestrone – a ton of veggies in a tomato and broth soup. Seriously nothing is more simple. Add the roasted garlic and squash and you have a super-healthy soup to get you past all that holiday eating you did. This guilt-free soup will fill you up and help you past your food coma. Here is a vegan and gluten-free Roasted Butternut and Garlic Minestrone.

Gosh I do so love roasted garlic. It is like perfume when roasting – kind of silly but it really does make the house smell wonderful. It makes me want pasta for some reason when I roast garlic. I hate roasting one bulb at a time though – I mean it’s expensive to keep the oven on that long for one silly bulb. So why not add some butternut squash to go along with it? Or roast a few extra bulbs also and keep the squished goodness in the fridge for other uses? Yep, thats what I did. I got two smaller butternuts (I don’t know why they were so small, but they were sure cute) and two bulbs of garlic (and added another bulb for another use) and roasted it all for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. I didn’t know I was out of foil until I needed to wrap up my bulbs of garlic. What’s a girl to do? Use parchment of course! Yes, you can roast garlic in parchment – just rip the paper a little longer than you would for foil and really twist the top so it stays closed. No biggie. Also – after making this soup I now know for sure I need an actual soup pot. When I moved my soup pot didn’t move with me so I have been making soup in my pasta pot. It is so not big enough for soups! I love making lots of soup so I can fill my freezer and the pasta pot just doesn’t cut it – which as you can see that pot is not big enough and I had to use my big saute pan to help out!

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Start by halving the butternut squash and scooping out the innards and cutting the tops off the garlic bulbs. Spread parchment over a large baking sheet and sprinkle olive oil over squash along with black pepper; lay cut side down. Rip off large strips of parchment paper and lay one bulb on each sheet, sprinkle with olive oil and black pepper then close and twist top. Lay on baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes. About 35 minutes into the baking start chopping veggies, starting with the onion and celery. Pour about one cup of veg stock into your biggest pot and dump veggies – no oil, and keep on low heat. The point is the get veggies softened for less cooking time. Chop and add carrots, zucchini, mushrooms, green beans, and add tomatoes. About this time the squash and garlic have come out of the oven and cooled a bit. In a the food processor add two cups stock with scraped out squash, squeezed out garlic, and herbs. Process, adding more stock if needed. Pour into pot and stir gently. Turn heat up to medium-high and add beans and sliced kale; put on lid, skewing on top to vent. Let cook for about an hour, adding more stock to loosen everything up, until everything is just softened. Portion out and enjoy!

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Vegan Roasted Butternut and Garlic Minestrone, 10 servings

2 Small Butternut Squash, halved and roasted
2 Bulbs Garlic, roasted
1 Large Onion, chopped
3 Stalks Celery, chopped
3 Large Carrots, chopped
2 Zucchini, chopped
12 oz Sliced Mushrooms, chopped
6 oz Fresh Green Beans, cut small
1 Small Bunch Kale, chopped
1 Can Hunts No Sodium Added Crushed Tomatoes
2 Cans Goya White Beans, rinsed
1 1/2 Cntr Pacific Foods Vegetable Stock
2 Tsp Rosemary
2 Tsp Black Pepper
1 Tbsp Basil
1 Tbsp Parsley

1. Halve the butternut squash and scoop out innards and cut tops off the garlic bulbs. Spread parchment over a large baking sheet and sprinkle olive oil over squash along with black pepper; lay cut side down. Rip off large strips of parchment paper and lay one garlic bulb on each sheet, sprinkle with olive oil and black pepper then close and twist top. Lay on baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes.
2. Pour one cup stock into large pot and add chopped onion, celery, carrots, zucchini, and tomatoes. Keep over low-medium heat to just start to soften veggies.
3. Add chopped mushrooms and green beans and put lid on. Rinse canned beans and chop kale while squash and garlic cool.
4. In food processor add two cups stock, scraped out squash and squeezed out garlic, along with herbs. Process until smooth and pour into pot. Stir gently.
5. Add rinsed beans and chopped kale.
6. Put lid on pot, a little skewed, and turn heat to medium. Let cook for about an hour. Make sure it doesn’t boil over, and to stir periodically.
7. Enjoy!