Winter Veggie Bisque

I recently made some soup for a dear friend who was recuperating from surgery. Earlier in the day, I was sitting in the waiting room at a doctor's office, skimming through some magazines to pass the time. Interestingly, I always seem to seek out the same sort of magazines. I guess that says a lot about who I am and what is important to me. I bet you do the same thing. For instance I never pick up magazines to do with Hunting and Fishing, Business and Finance or Sports. No matter how bored I get I just can't seem to get interested in them. On the other hand, I'm happy to see anything to do with People, Food, Psychology, Home and Health or Travel lying on the table. I might even grab two magazines at once (say People Magazine and Family Circle)so that I'm not left empty-handed or with a dreaded choice such as Money magazine. OK so now I've really gone off on a tangent, haven't I?
The point is that while I was waiting to be called to see the doctor, I started looking through a 2011 issue of Family Circle magazine, and came across a section containing several really appetizing-looking soup recipes. Isn't this a great time of year to try a new soup recipe? With temperatures in the teens, winds blowing, and snow and ice storms coming at us from all directions, what could be more comforting than coming face to face with a big bowl of steaming, delicious-smelling, home-made soup?
One particular recipe jumped out at me - it was something called Winter Veggie Bisque. For a moment I thought about pulling the recipe page out of the magazine. Almost immediately my internal censor held me back. What about the next readers? How disappointed they would feel when they realized the recipe had already been confiscated. My feelings of guilt won out. I am Catholic after-all.
As I was standing at the exit desk waiting for my follow-up appointment, I decided that I really wanted this recipe badly. Hand-copying it did not appear to be an agreeable option to me at that point since I had already spent over two and a half hours in the dear Doctor's office, and I was more than ready to leave. The perceptive receptionist saw the look of longing in my eyes and said understandingly, Would you like me to make a copy of something for you?
Oh yes, I replied and within a second I had my coveted recipe safely in my hand and was on my way to making my soup. It was so delicious as a matter of fact, I am including the recipe. Enjoy!
Love, Mary Beth

Winter Veggie Bisque

Makes 6 servings - Prep 15 minutes, cook 12 minutes

1 large onion, peeled & halved

1 Granny Smith apple, peeled & cored

3 carrots, trimmed & peeled

2 TBLS unsalted butter

2 packages (12 ounces each) frozen cooked winter squash, thawed

3 cups vegetable broth

2 Tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon ground ginger

¾ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

_1/8 teaspoon cayenne

½ cup heavy cream

1. Shred onion, apple and carrots either with a box grater or with a shedding blade in a food processor. Heat butter in large pot over medium heat. Add shredded onion, apple and carrots. Cook 7 minutes, until softened.

2. Stir in squash, ginger, salt, cinnamon and cayenne. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 5 minutes.

3. Transfer mixture to food processor fitted with chopping blade or to blender. Puree until smooth (do this in batches, if necessary). Return to pot and stir in heavy cream.* Gently heat through.

Per serving 210 calories; 11 g fat (7 g saturated fat); 1 g protein; 27 g carbohydrates; 4 g fiber; 800 mg sodium; 37 mg cholesterol

· You can use fat free half & half or something similar instead of the heavy cream in order to lower the fat content.