Broiled Asparagus

I'm so glad that my mother cooked vegetables in ways that made us love them.  This is one of my favorite ways to eat asparagus.

Broiled Asparagus

Ingredients:
Asparagus
Olive oil / canola/ vegetable
salt

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Rinse asparagus and snap off thick ends- they don't taste good!
2.  Lay in baking pan and drizzle with oil.  Sprinkle with salt.
3.  Bake until tender, taste it to see if it meets your preference.  Usually about 20 minutes.

Butternut Squash Soup with Rosemary

This is one of my favorite dishes.  I am allergic to milk, so I rarely get to have creamy foods, and as strange as it sounds, I miss creamy textures.  So after having butternut squash soup for the first time, I decided to make my own.  Most butternut squash soups have dairy in them, but this one is dairy free, and can even be made vegan.

Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients:

• 1 Butternut Squash
• 4-6 cups Chicken or Vegetable Broth
• 1 Onion, diced
• Olive Oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• 2 Tbs. fresh Rosemary or 1 Tbs. dried

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Cut the squash in half and remove seeds and pulp (just like a pumpkin).  Lay flesh down in a casserole dish and pour about an inch and a half of water in the bottom. Place in the oven and bake until a fork can easily poke into the flesh of the squash.

2. Remove squash from oven, let cool while you cut onion.  Drizzle olive oil in a large stock pot, add onion and cook on medium high until soft.  Then add squash, carefully removing it from the skin.  (Caution: it may still be rather hot, use hot pads if necessary.) Add broth to just cover the squash in the pot.  Bring to a boil and simmer until the squash is falling apart.  Either mash or blend in a blender or with a hand blender until smooth.  Add Rosemary, salt and pepper to taste.  

3. Enjoy!