Roasted Butternut Soup with Apples and Veggie Bacon

I just happened to have a butternut squash on hand when I came across this: http://www.joanne-eatswellwithothers.com/2012/01/recipe-rosted-butternut-chowder-with.html

I roasted a diced butternut squash, a dice half-onion and two diced apples. For the record, I peeled the squash and apples and I hate peeling things, but it was worth it. They're coated with olive oil, Italian seasoning and garlic from a jar.

I had vegetarian bacon left over from the pancakes, so I cut some up and cooked it in a pan.

Quickly I realized that if not using a non-stick pan, I needed a little olive oil.

When the veggies were done, I added them to the bacon pan. Obviously you could use real bacon if you'd like.

The original recipe called for six cups of broth, but I figured I could stick to the box of prepared veggie broth I already had on hand and end up with a thicker soup. It worked!

Cook it until the veggies start to break up a little. This doesn't look that good, but I was amazed at how delicious the end result was. And I'm glad I didn't just leave out the veggie bacon because it added a great element of flavor!

I tried to eat a small bowl ("If you want to be a small person, use a small bowl" or something like that), but it was so good I got another half-bowl.

I like that this doesn't have any flour or sugar or than the natural sugar of the apples. You could eat this with some bread, but I thought it was hearty enough for a healthy stand-alone lunch.

Roasted Butternut Chowder with Apples and Bacon
(serves 4)
Adapted from Eats Well With Others

1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut
1/2 onion, chopped
2 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped
4 vegetarian bacon slices, chopped
2 tbsp minced garlic
Olive oil
Kosher salt and fresh-ground black pepper
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 box vegetable broth

1. Heat the oven to 400. Spread the squash, onion, apples, and garlic on a rimmed baking sheet. Coat with olive oil and cover in Italian seasoning.
2.  Roast, stirring every now and then, until the squash, onion, and apples are tender and browned, about 45 minutes. Remove the roasting pan from the oven.
3. Chop bacon and heat in a little oil in a pan on the stove. Transfer contents of the baking sheet to the pan and leave on medium heat. Add the stock, salt and pepper and cook until the squash, onion, and apples break apart and thicken and flavor the broth, about 25 minutes.