Roasted Beet and Butternut Squash Soup

OMG this soup is so good!  My neighbor gave me some lovely butternut squash, so I roasted it up along with some beets and sweet potatoes.  A few days later I still had squash and beets leftover, so I blended them up into a super flavorful and hearty soup.  I seasoned it with cinnamon and nutmeg, but I bet sage or thyme would also be good.  This brightly colored soup will warm you up this winter!

Ingredients

• 1 butternut squash
• 2 large beets, or a few smaller ones
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• About 2 cups of vegetable broth (depending on how thick/thin you like your soup)
• 2-3 tsp of cinnamon
• 1 tsp of ground ginger
• 1 tsp of nutmeg
• Olive oil, salt, pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Carefully cut the squash in half, the long way.  Place onto lined baking sheet and coat with olive oil, salt, pepper, and half of the cinnamon and nutmeg.
3. Wash beets and cut into big chunks (trimming the stem first).  Place onto another lined baking sheet and coat with olive oil, salt, pepper, and the rest of the cinnamon and nutmeg.
4. Roast the beets in the oven for about 35 or so minutes until soft.  Squash will take about an hour in the oven to get soft.
5. Once vegetables are cooked, scoop out the squash from the skins and process with the beets in a food processor or blender until smooth.
6. In a pot, saute the garlic for a minute and then add the pureed vegetables.  
7. Stir in the vegetable broth until it is the consistency you like.
8. Add salt and pepper to taste.
9. Enjoy with a nice slice of gluten free bread!

Happy New Year!

Happy 2013!  I hope you are all having a good start to the new year.  As you can tell by the date of this post, mine is starting out at a slow pace, which is a good thing.  I was so busy last semester, constantly moving to stay on top of my full schedule.  But I have spent a lot of time this winter reading, doing yoga, and relaxing with friends and family.  One of my new year's resolutions is to find more balance in my busy life.  Another resolution I have is to go out to nice restaurants more often.  This may sound frivolous, but for me it represents a real change in attitude.  Sometimes I get stuck in seeing the glass as half empty and limit myself from my own happiness.  For example, I've been going to the same little restaurant almost every Friday night for a year, because it has great cheap food and is close to my home.  But it is also the kind of place that rushes you out the door, asking if you're finished before you've even had a second bite of your dinner.  It occurred to me one day, as the inevitable moment came when the waiter put the check down next to my nearly full bowl of noodles, that enough was enough.  It was laughable really, that I was placing myself in the exact same, very predictable situation of being rushed through my dinner week after week.  As if I had no other choices of where to eat in the whole city of San Francisco!  At the start of the new year I resolved to start trying new restaurants, and even some "fancy" ones too.  Last weekend, the time finally came when I invited some friends out to a new restaurant I've been dying to go to, Namu Gaji, in the Mission.  (I know always the Mission, next year's resolution will be to venture out of my hood more...)  It's a Korean fusion restaurant, with a beautiful interior (old naturally shaped wood tables, etc.), and a well labeled menu for gluten free folks.  My friends and I splurged on array of dishes including the stone pot, crispy fried kobacha squash, saucy oxtail, garlicky brussel sprouts, beef tongue, octopus with pumpkin, and of course pretty little pickled samplings.  It was an amazing experience to leisurely feast with friends, talking and laughing, and getting lost in the moment.  And though I can't afford to go out like this often, it is certainly within the realm of possibilities for me to do every once and a while.  This new year's resolution is really connected to having an "attitude of gratitude."  I am lucky enough to live in a great city full of delicious food, so I may as well appreciate it while I can!