Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup

I have always loved plain old butternut squash soup, but I wanted to try to make it a little different this time.  The flavors I used made this so unique.  I hope you like it as much as I did.  Here are the ingredients:

1 whole butternut squash, peeled and diced

2 cups of carrots, cut up

1 medium sized Vidalia onion, diced

1-2 tbs of butter (or margarine)

1 box of chicken broth

Salt and Pepper

fresh thyme (about ½ tsp)

cumin (to taste)

¼ tsp nutmeg

¼ cup of ½ and ½ (feel free to use fat free to cut calories)

In your soup pot, melt the butter and cook the onions, squash and carrots for about 10 minutes.  Add the chicken broth, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer (covered) for about 30 minutes.

Once the veggies are really tender, use either a stick blender or a food processor and puree the soup.

And now for the seasoning... add your salt and pepper, cumin, nutmeg, and thyme.  Let the flavors simmer together for another 5-10 minutes and take a taste.  Feel free to add whatever you need so that you can taste everything.

Last but not least, stir in your ½ and ½.

All that is left to do is eat it!  A great idea when serving is to toss a couple of salad croutons and a little Parmesan cheese on top...