Home for the Holidays
As many of you know, I grew up in Vancouver, BC and only moved to this frozen city a few years ago, which has caused us to make a few major changes in our typical holiday traditions we are used to. We’ve hosted my family the last four years over the holidays and love every crowded moment of it as we jam into our home, around our small table and eat way too much food! Finding the perfect holiday recipe for everyone to enjoy isn’t easy, but it’s also important for me to find recipes that allow me to spend more time connecting with friends and family around the table, and less time cooking in the kitchen.
We have played with a few ingredients and have come up with a delicious roasted butternut squash and bacon soup to serve, and I have created this recipe using the Vitamix A3500 Ascent Series blender which makes this recipe so easy and quick to put together.
We’ve only used a few simple ingredients which provide such a great flavour throughout the dish, and it’s so easy to serve with a side of your choice for a hearty and healthy meal this Christmas! This also helps spread this to the masses, so families big and small can all enjoy this delicious dish together!
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Chop the squash and red pepper into 1”
squares, dice onion, garlic and bacon
Place all vegetables and bacon onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper,
cover with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper and toss. Bake for 25-30 minutes,
stirring half way
Once ingredients are tender, remove from heat and place into Vitamix A3500
Ascent Series blender
Add the broth first, then cumin and thyme and blend for about 2-3 minutes until the
texture is creamy. Start with your Vitamix at its slowest setting (1) and slowly
increase the speed up to 10 to blend
Once you get your desired consistency, pour into a bowl, add your toppings of
choice and enjoy!
Soup Ingredients:
1 Butternut squash
1 Yellow onion
1 Red pepper
2 Cloves of garlic
4 Slices of bacon
2 1/2 Cups of chicken broth
1/4 tsp thyme
2 pinches of cumin
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Toppings:
Sour cream
Bacon bits
Chives
We served ours with slices of store-bought sourdough bread which was amazing, but would also go great with my home-made bread recipe found here. This recipe is great for entertaining during the holidays, for your family during the week or for meal prep lunches for your week at work! Another great thing about this recipe is the clean up - the Vitamix cleans itself with a drop of dish soap and some warm water in 30-60 seconds! This is the perfect meal to serve during the cold winter months and so easy to make to wow your house guests this holiday season!
The Vitamix A3500 Ascent Series has made our lives so much easier and Hubs and I were talking the other day about how we wished we had one earlier! Vitamix machines can be purchased from various retailers across Canada or at www.vitamix.ca
Have a happy holiday season and enjoy every moment with the ones you love!
