more soup!

84 degrees is appropriate weather for soup.  i promise.  i had a couple of butternut squash in our produce stash from our recent CSA deliveries, so i glanced around pinterest and landed on this little delight one of my cousins had pinned.  i happened to have all the other ingredients on hand (when does that ever happen?), with the exception of the parsley.  but, i never have parsley, so i left it out.

i've been trying really hard to let emme help with making dinner as much as possible.  it keeps her distracted while i'm cooking, and makes her really excited about whatever it is we're going to eat.  anyway...the original recipe can be found here, but here's my version (a little shorter and a few modifications). 

ingredients:
- 1-2 butternut squash (i had two small ones so used both), peeled, seeded and cubed
- 1 onion, diced
- garlic, diced
- olive oil or coconut oil
- 4 cups of chicken broth
- 1-2 pounds of shredded chicken (i bought pre-shredded chicken this week, but usually i make my own and freeze the stock)
- 1 can diced tomatoes (i used ro-tel since that's what i had and it gave the soup a nice little kick, but not too spicy for emme)
- 2/3 cup of quinoa
- 1 cup (more or less to taste) of kalamata olives, chopped in to fourths
- salt, pepper, oregano, and parsley (if you want it/have it)

steam your butternut squash for about 12 minutes.  take out half the squash and set aside while steaming the rest of the squash for another 5-10 minutes (until soft enough to mash).  meanwhile, saute onions in olive or coconut oil.  add garlic and oregano once onions are translucent and stir for about a minute.  add canned tomatoes and stir.  add squash cubes and squash mash and mix everything together.  pour in chicken broth and return everything to a simmer.  add quinoa, cover, and let simmer on low for about 15 minutes.  take lid off, throw in your chicken and olives.  stir for 5-10 minutes to heat and mingle flavors.  add parsley at this time if you want to.  salt and pepper to taste.  this is a quick soup that only takes about 25-35 minutes, so it's perfect for weeknights.  i recommend serving with crusty bread...which we didn't have last night, but will definitely make next time!