Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Chicken and White Beans

Ingredients

• 1 medium butternut squash, about 1 1/2 pounds
• 1 large garlic bulb
• 1 medium onion
• 1 T olive oil or coconut oil
• 1 jalapeno pepper
• 24 oz cooked cubed or shredded chicken
• 1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
• 4 C chicken stock
• 1 t salt
• 1 t smoked paprika
• 1 t coriander
• 2 t sugar
• 1 can lite coconut milk
• 1 bunch fresh basil (about 1/4 cup)
• fresh ground pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Cut your squash in half lengthwise and place it face side up in a 9 x 13 baking dish. You can drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil over it if you want. Sprinkle with some kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. Slice the very tops off of a large clove of garlic and place it in the pan with the squash. My picture shows 2 because they were small and my squash was huge so I kind of had to almost double my recipe. Roast the squash and garlic in the oven for 1 hour. You can even do this the day before.
2. While the squash is cooling a bit, heat 1 T olive or coconut oil in a large pot. Roughly chop your onion and jalapeno pepper. If you want your soup a little spicy, then only seed and cut out the membranes on one side of the jalapeno. If you want it mild, then seed both sides. Saute onions and peppers in the pan for a few minutes until they become soft. Scoop the flesh of the squash into the pan with the onions along with the roasted and peeled garlic cloves.
3. Once everything is warmed through, dump all that into a large blender along with the fresh basil leaves. Add 2 cups of the chicken broth and blend for a while until everything is completely smooth and there are no more chunks.
4. Pour back into your pot and place back on the stove. Add in the rest of the chicken stock, salt, paprika, coriander, sugar, coconut milk, cooked chicken, and white beans. Bring back to simmer for just a minute and then you are ready to go!