Light Butternut Onion Soup

Guests coming for dinner and the weather had turned surprisingly cold. I felt the need for a soup first course but didn't have anything handy in the fridge. Wondering what I could pull together, I looked into the fridge and found a half a butternut squash waiting to become something. With a couple fresh sweet onions, that piece of squash brought a satisfying warmth before the rest of the meal.

1. Make a broth or use a good vegetable stock. I used mushroom stems, celery, onion, ginger.
2.  Steam the cubed squash.
3. With a cup of water in a pan, add the dry herbs and the marmite, all the onion in large slices chopped in half or quarters. Stir fry that until it begins to get sticky to the pan, then add the broth, straining out all the stuff.
4. Transfer to the bigger stock pot, add the squash (you can smash the squash ... leave it in chunks, or puree it before you put it in.)  Cook all together for about 10 minutes. I used a potato masher to smash the squash while leaving the onions mostly intact though quite soft and translucent. Add the frozen spinach -- it will thaw immediately!.  Cook more if you want, or serve just like that! Probably great with just a little parmesan cheese if you eat that...

Butternut Onion Soup Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 1 Serving (243g) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 48 2% Total Fat 0g 0% Saturated Fat 0g 0% Trans Fat Cholesterol 0% Sodium 142mg 6% Total Carbohydrate 11g 4% Dietary Fiber 2g 7% Sugars 5g 0% Protein 2g 3% Vitamin A 14% • Vitamin C 20% Calcium 5% • Iron 6% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs. courtesy of cronomieter.com using my data.