Delicata Squash Stew

Zaftique

I ended up using 7 pint bags (with about 1/2c left over) for my FoodSaver, so one serving is roughly 1½ - 1¾ c. and only 253 calories - it feels like cheating!

~1lb of delicata squash
2 poblano peppers* (chunked)
1 red pepper (chunked)
1 large onion (diced)
1 zucchini (halved and sliced)
1 yellow squash (halved and sliced)
1 can Bush's Best Black Beans (drained & rinsed, but that's personal preference)
1 rotisserie chicken's-worth of meat (saved cooking time, plus now one can make DIY stock!)
1 qt. chicken broth
~1.5T olive oil
2T unsalted butter
2T flour

Halve the delicatas and scoop the seeds and goop. Rub with a little bit of olive oil and place cut side down in a baking dish. Bake at 375 for about 30m. It's a guesstimate, since you want the squash to get soft, but not scorch. I wait until it starts getting brown on the edges touching the pyrex, then take them out to cool. Depending on how many gourds you have (and how many dishes, and how large an oven), repeat the process as necessary.

While you're waiting on the squash, sauté the onion in the 1T olive oil over medium heat. You want it to get soft, but not caramelize. Add however much cumin and chili powder you want (I go nuts, but I like warm, spicy soup!), and toss in half of the poblanos. Stir, let cook; if it starts getting dry, slosh in some broth. After a few minutes, add in half the red pepper, zucchini, yellow squash, and let them soften up. It's ok if it gets mushy, you're going to be blending the living booyah out of it in a moment.

The delicatas should be done by now, so scoop out the tasty, tasty squash and add it right into the pot. Add however much broth you wish to get the consistency you want - I added a quart of broth and it was still fairly thick, so if you like it a little thinner, add more! Melt the 2T of butter and add the 2T of flour in a separate pan/pot (sauciers are good for this), stirring til it becomes kind of a grainy paste (roux). Add some spoonfuls of broth to temper it, then scrape it into the soup to thicken. Blend the bejeebus out of everything it til it's nice and smooth.

In the separate pan/pot, sauté the rest of the squashes and peppers in a wee dash of oil until they're soft, but still have some bite. Add to the soup along with the chicken bits and beans. Give it a stir, salt to taste, double check on desired spiciness level, let it cook on medium-low heat for another few minutes, and voila!


I feel like I entered something in the recipe builder wrong, that a soup this thick and rich and filling is so low in calories (even more so if you remove the chicken from the equation), but wow! I know what I'll be making lots of this winter!


* I tend to prefer poblanos over regular old green bell peppers - they have a nice warmth to them without being super spicy, and green peppers can sometimes get a bitter edge to their flavor. YMMV, so substitute whichever floats your boat!