It’s when I’m at the calmest and most relaxed state that the recipes come easily to me. I received an immersion blender as a Christmas gift and of course I knew I wanted to make some sort of soup and put this bad boy to use!

Butternut Squash is something that had been wanting to do for quite some time as I have heard it has a creamy texture that can be use in both savory and sweet dishes. What better dish than a bowl of soup when you feel like you’re coming down with something?

For this recipe I used turkey broth, but you can substitute with chicken or vegetable broth if you like.

If you cannot find Havarti cheese, you can use Italian Fontina cheese in this. If you do not like cheese at all in your soups you can omit this ingredient.

To add a bit more crunch to the soup, feel free to add croutons when serving! (For those who cannot have bread, you can cut some Glutinos or Udi’s white sandwich bread or purchase a french baguette and cut in small cubes and toast them on a pan and top the soup with these.)

Serves 4

4 cans of turkey broth
3 stalks of bok choy roughly chopped
1 can of Cannellini beans
2 carrots thinly sliced
1 (2 to 3 pound) butternut squash, peeled and seeded

1 Small kabocha squash (optional)
1 teaspoon of dry tarragon
¼ cup of shredded Havarti cheese

Directions

Peel, seed and chop the butternut squash into small cubes.* Now peel and thinly slice the carrots*

In a pot, pour the 4 cans of turkey broth, add the squash, carrots, tarragon, salt and cook on medium high heat between 20-25minutes or until both the carrots and squash are fork tender. Take the pot off the heat.

*If you are using the Kabocha Squash* Cut the squash in quarters and place in a separate pot with boiling water. Cook for about 20 minutes or until the squash is fork tender.

Then scoop out the squash and place in a bowl with the butternut squash and carrots and puree with an immersion blender.

Put the pot back on the heat and add the bok choy, cannellini and cheese. Cook another 10-15minutes until the bok choy has softened. Top with toasted croutons and add some more cheese if you like and enjoy!!

Serve this with a side of my Honey-Dijon wings or by itself!!

NOTE* I chop both carrots and squash into small pieces since they cook a lot faster this way.