Roasted Butternut Squash Soup…and the Stevia Giveaway Winners!

So it’s been a busy baking week. I’ve thrown a lot of sweet things your way.

Today I thought I would change direction a bit. Give you something savoury to help you down off that sugar high.

Oh wait – there was no sugar high. Because all those baked goods were made with natural sweeteners. Including stevia, which I’m about to give away…four times!

Congratulations goes to…

• Winner#1 – Averie!
• Winner #2: Jessica!
• Winner #3 – Derry!
• Winner #4 – Annie!

You were chosen completely at random, thanks to Randomized.com:

You have each won a package of 50 NuStevia packets and a bottle of Vanilla Stevia Liquid! You’ll be hearing from me via email soon (if you haven’t received an email by the end of the day, email me at theguiltlesslife@gmail.com). Let me know how you end up using them, yes?

For those of you that didn’t win, first – thanks for entering! And second, you can still profit. NuNaturals is extending discounts and an offer of free samples to you all. Details on how to claim those are at the bottom of this post. Because right now, we need to get on to our roasted butternut squash soup recipe…um, yes!

Anna’s Roasted Butternut Squash Bisque

INGREDIENTS (serves 4-6)

1 butternut squash, peeled and chopped into cubes (if you have leftover butternut squash, check out this recipe from Angela at Oh She Glows! Yummy…)
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, unpeeled (or 2 tsp minced garlic)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 onion, chopped
300ml (1.25 cups) vegetable stock
100ml half-and-half cream
1 tsp dried sage

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place the butternut squash cubes onto a baking tray and drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil and scatter over the garlic cloves/minced garlic. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast for 15-30 minutes or until tender (roasting time will depend on the size of the cubes you chopped).

2. In a large Dutch oven heat 1 tbsp olive oil and add the chopped onion. Stirfry for 5 minutes or so until soft. Add butternut squash, vegetable stock and sage and simmer for 5 minutes.

3. Stir in half-and-half and season to taste.

4. Remove from heat and blend (remember with hot liquids that it will want to push the lid off, so don’t overfill! Or wait for it to cool down first, blend, then reheat. Be safe!).

5. Once smooth, pour into dishes and serve immediately, sprinkling a few chopped walnuts on top and serving with some crusty bread. This makes a fairly thick soup (a bisque) but you can make it thinner by adding more stock. It will likely thicken overnight also so simply add some water or stock to it the next day before reheating.

Nutrition information is per serving if soup serves 4:

And I didn’t forget!

To claim that NuNaturals discount (or free sample) that I mentioned earlier, follow these instructions:

If you’re in the continental U.S., receive a free sample of NuStevia packets by sending a self-addressed, stamped #10 envelope to:

NuNaturals, Inc.
2220 West 2nd Ave. # 1
Eugene, OR  97402

If you want to take advantage of NuNaturals’ generous discount, order through the website www.nunaturals.com and enter the code BLG1211 when you get to the checkout page for 15% off your total order! Shipping is free within the continental U.S. on orders totalling at least $35 after the discount. The coupon is valid until December 31, 2011!