Vegan Butternut Squash Apple Soup

Panera Bread is a favorite place to have meetings large or small.  I went there to meet with Peg to discuss what I would teach for her CCD religion class that I was to sub for her.  As I waited for her, I ordered Panera's Squash Autumn Soup. It was delicious and had that heartwarming, homey taste to it. I waited for Peg and waited and panicked I might have gone to the wrong Panera. When I called Peg, it turned out we switched the meeting place to King's during our previous phone conversation. The initial one we agreed on, Panera, somehow stuck in my memory.  Senioritis kicked in.

Anyway, the taste of the soup stayed in my memory with no problem and made me search the web for copycat versions.  I opted for an easy vegan one from this site. I tweaked the recipe to exclude oil and relied on my Vitamix blender to do most of the steps in the original recipe.

This present version of mine is different from the one I posted in the past. I added apple to this new version and used curry powder. I skipped the coconut milk and green chilies. Both versions are delicious with its own personality. This new version is the more reserved of the two but so comforting like your worn out blanket.

Vegan Butternut Squash Apple Soup

Adapted from this site

• 2 cups butternut squash, roasted, seeded and peeled (note 1)
• 1 apple, peeled, cored and quartered
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp curry powder
• 1 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 1/4 cup almond milk (I used the original, unsweetened)
• Dash of cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt or to taste
• 1 tsp maple syrup (optional)

Place all the ingredients in a blender and mix till homogeneous. If using a Vitamix blender increase the setting to 10 and blend till mixture is heated. Or transfer to a pot and heat through.

Note:

1. I cut the butternut squash lengthwise in two, placed the pieces cut side down in a pan and baked for 20 minutes. I then remove the seeds and skin. You can also microwave the pieces till soft.