Acorn Squash Soup with Kale

Martha Stewart I'm not, but I do love her ideas.  And I'll admit that I do enjoy cooking.  I thought I'd show what I've done with some of the produce from my CSA excursions.  This is the acorn squash and curly kale that I got in week 2's lot.

All the ingredients you'll need

So all I needed to make this yummy soup, which is PERFECT for fall, was some Curly Kale, Acorn Squash, a medium Onion, Bacon and Water.  You only need 4 pieces of bacon for this.  Amazing!  I know right?  So very good!  And really easy!

Did you know you can microwave this?

I like things to go quickly, so instead of baking it for 40 minutes I was able to microwave it for about 10 minutes.  That's right I take shortcuts!  All you have to do is stab it a few times, like you would a potato.  Be sure to put a paper towel under it because it will leak.

Cooked and almost ready to go!

Scoop the seeds and you are ready to go!

Once you've cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds you are ready to go.  Scoop out all the flesh and puree it.  This can actually then be served as just a side when you puree it with butter, but I had other plans.  I add some pepper in to it to make it have a bit more oomph.  It's sweet, so the pepper tones it down a little.

Bacon ready for dicing.

Four pieces of bacon are to be cut into 1/2 inch pieces.  I actually cut them into smaller pieces, because I use THICK bacon.  Yum!

Into the frying pan.

Add the bacon to the frying pan.  Once the bacon is nice and crisp (about 4-5 minutes), use a slotted spoon to take it out and  lay it on a plate covered in paper towels so it can basically dry off.  Leave the bacon renderings in the pan.

Dice an onion.

My brother taught me this really great way to dice onions.  You don't cut all the way through horizontally and vertically.  Then you turn it on its side and slice through, which dices the onion.  The smaller your slices, the smaller your diced onion will be.  I'd go for smaller pieces if your not a big fan of onion.  

Voila!  Diced onions.

Sauteing!

Next add the onions to the bacon renderings and saute until translucent.  This should take about 4-5 minutes as well.

Diced curly kale.

I know it doesn't look appealing, but trust me.

Dice up the curly kale.  The original recipe calls for 1/2 pound of the kale, about eight cups.  I used less than that because I didn't have that much.  I think it turned out just fine.  Add this to the onion and cook  until soft.  That's about 3-4 minutes.

Doesn't it look delish?

Next you add the acorn squash puree and about 3 cups of water or more if you want a thinner soup.  Bring it to just barely a boil.  Season generously with salt and pepper.  Serve with reserved bacon.

I absolutely LOVE this soup.  It's easy and tasty.  And very filling.