Butternut, bean and ham soup

I've made butternut squash soup before, and it was SO yummy and refreshing! The smooth puree soup that I've posted before doesn't really serve as an all-in-one meal, though. This adaption has heartier ingredients and some texture to make it a big-bowl-of-soup kind of dinner.

A big hunk of the multigrain bread that I used for Reubens finished the dish perfectly!

Ingredients:

• 1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed
• 1 large potato, peeled and cubed
• 1 large sweet onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 5 c chicken stock (I use fat free, low sodium. You can also use 5 c of water w/ a couple of boullion cubes)
• 1 handful of fresh green beans
• 2 slices of ham, cut 1/2 inch thick (Casey's tip- get these from the deli rather than buying ham steaks)
• 3 T butter
• 1/2 c heavy cream
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 T freshly ground Parmesan cheese

1. Melt butter over medium heat. Add onions and saute on med-low heat until the onions are soft and almost clear. Then add the garlic and saute another minute.
2. Add the squash, potatoes and chicken stock. Let simmer 25 minutes, stirring occasionally until veggies are all very soft.

3. Take the ends off the green beans and chop or snap them into 1.5 inch pieces. Bring 1/2 c of water to boil in a small pan and add the green beans. Cover, let simmer 10-15 minutes (until the green beans are soft).
4. When the soup veggies are soft, remove half of the contents of the pot and blend them together in a food processor or blender.

Half of your mixture will look like this:             Half will look like this:












5. Add the puree back into the pot with the un-blended veg. (Haha I'm going overboard on the photos now...)

6. Then add the cream, salt, pepper, ham and veggies. I threw in a few tablespoons of fresh grated parmesan for good measure. Stir it all together and let it simmer on the stove another 5-10 minutes before serving.