Butternut Skillet Soup w/ Fresh Chile Recipe

ENJOY!!!!

Ingredients

• 3-4 tbl. EVO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
  

• 2 med-large onions cut into 1/4" dice

• salt and fresh ground pepper
• 8 large cloves garlic, minced
• 3 to 4 large jalapenos
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/3 cup cider vinegar
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 14oz. can whole tomatoes
• 2 1/2 to 3 lbs butternut peeled, seeded, 1" chunks
• 8-10 cups low sodium broth
• topping:
• grated peel of 1 large lime
• juice of 2 limes
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro

1. Stir in onion, salt & pepper. Stir in garlic, half the chilies and the thyme. Blend in vinegar scraping up the brown glaze from the bottom of the pan.
2. Boil down the vinegar. Add the wine and boil it down until none remains.
3. Blend in tomatoes. Add squash & broth. Cover and cook 30 minutes or until squash is tender. Taste. Cool, then puree half the soup.
4. Set soup to room temperature or refrigerate up to 4 days.
5. Blend together toppings just before serving and garnish on top of the soup.
   

Quick and Easy Dinners

• Roasted Pork Tenderloin
• (about 3-4 lbs)
• 3 - 4 Tbl of ea. kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
• 3 - 4 Tbl of ea. herb de provence
• 3 - 4 Tbl. olive oil
  

1. Make sure your pork is at room temperature. Let stand for about 30-45 minutes to take the chill out.
   
2. Preheat oven to 475 degrees
3. Rub kosher salt and fresh ground pepper (I use a coffee grinder for the whole peppercorns)
4. Add some herb de provence to the rub
5. drizzle the olive oil liberally over the pork making sure that the fatty side is up
   
6. cook on high (475) until it is nice and crusty on the outside, then lower heat to medium (350) for the last 30 minutes......cook pork for about 60-90 minutes.......or make sure it is not tender to the touch.
   

• Curried Rice with Dried Cranberries (or Cherries)
• 4 cups of cooked rice
  
• 3 - 4 tsp. of ea.fresh minced ginger and minced garlic
• 4 cups of long grain rice
• 3 -4 tsp. curry powder
• 1 cup of dried cranberries

1. cook rice
2. using a wok, coat pan with olive oil
3. saute ginger and garlic (making sure you have high heat, but do not burn it)
4. add the rice and season with curry powder. cook for about 10 minutes until rice is completely coated with the oil and curry powder. Stir often.
   
5. add dried cranberries at the very last and turn off to let it steam only...do not over cook!
6. Season with salt and pepper.

• Balsamic vinaigrette w/shallots and Dijon mustard
  
• 4 tsp. of dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
  
• 1 cup of olive oil
• 3 tsp. of shallots
• salt and fresh ground pepper
  

1. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk dijon mustard and balsamic vinegar to blend.
   
2. Slowly, drizzle in the olive oil with a whisk to emulsify
3. add shallots last, but do not bruise too much just stir it in before serving.
4. season with salt and pepper.