Zero Points Weight Watchers Butternut Squash Soup

Zero Points Butternut Squash Soup

Serves Four

1 medium to large butternut squash

1 cup carrots, diced

1 cup yellow onion, diced

1 celery stalk, diced

2 garlic cloves minced

4 cups fat-free chicken stock

1 bay leaf

Olive oil cooking spray

Salt & pepper

Green apple for garnish

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Cut the squash in half and spray each half with olive oil cooking spray.  Season with salt and pepper.  Roast the squash for about 50 minutes until it starts to brown and soften.

Spray a large stock pot with olive oil cooking spray.  Saute the carrots, onion, celery and garlic cloves for about 5-6 minutes or until the onion softens.  Add 2 cups of the chicken broth and simmer for 10 minutes until the carrots and celery are soft.

When the squash is done roasting scoop out the flesh.  It should be about 2 cups of squash. Add the squash and 1 more cup of the chicken broth to the stock pot with the vegetables.  Add salt and pepper and simmer for about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and using an immersion blender puree the vegetables.  If you do not have an immersion blender, you can just remove the soup and use a blender to puree and then return to the stock pot.

Add one more cup of chicken broth and the bay leaf.  Simmer for 15 minutes until all of the flavors combine.  Season with salt and pepper.  Ladle into soup bowls and garnish with diced green apple if desired.

This soup tastes so thick and creamy it is hard to imagine that there is no cream in this soup!  The roasted squash really gives it a deep flavor.  For zero points you can have more than one bowl of this filling soup!  Cheers and Enjoy!