Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other, gold.

One of the best parts of being an adult is finding true inspiration and fulfillment from your friendships. I’m really proud and lucky to say that I’ve been friends with Lori and Far for 15 years now, and they each inspire me in different ways. I’m totally humbled to think that my recipes and health lifestyle have inspired some of their own cooking. Far designed this website and Lori created and wrote this recipe with (ME?!) in mind. I’m excited to share that it is delicious and the perfect healthy way to warm up your icy weekend! Go get your ingredients quick, before the storm! And enjoy being snowed in this weekend.

This took me about 1.5 hours to make from start to finish. It has a very good earthy flavor and I think the
ginger does kick it up a notch, so feel free to use less if you prefer. If you don’t have a hand mixer (immersion blender) you can use a blender but be careful because it will be hot, so only fill it up half way! Also, I have read other recipes that call for coconut milk to thicken it up. I decided against it because once it’s all mixed together, I feel like its rich and thick enough. Here is how I made this soup. I think this is a good base and you can add or subtract anything to suit your taste. I thought, “Liz would have some good input!”

Butternut Fennel Leek Soup- Paleo, Whole 30, Dairy and Gluten Free

You will need 1-1.5 hours and:

1 butternut squash (cut in half and seeded)
1 fennel (separate stalks and fronds from bulb- fronds can be used to garnish)
2 leeks
ginger root (as mush as you want) I used almost an entire root- but
you can use 1-2 inches)
juice of 1 lemon
3-4 garlic cloves
salt and pepper to taste
smoked paprika
olive oil- just enough to coat the veggies and a little to cook the
fennel stalks and ginger
garlic powder

1. Preheat over to 350
2. Chop up fennel bulb into 8ths, and cut leeks in half (I barely cut the
   end off and then just up to where the green on the stalk gets super
   dark- about 5 inches)
3. Combine in a bowl with garlic powder, salt and pepper and olive oil–
   enough to coat.
4. Then take butternut squash halves, drizzle with olive
   oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste. put on greased baking
   dish and surround with leek and fennel and bake about 40-50 minutes or
   until butternut is soft and easy to scrape out and the edges of fennel
   and leek are brown.
5. Thinly chop up the fennel stalks, ginger and mash the garlic,
   throw into a pan and saute with salt and pepper to taste until almost
   caramelized- add some smoked paprika to taste. Add in the lemon juice.
6. Then add about 4-6 cups chicken stock, simmer until the veggies in the oven are done.
7. Finally, take a spoon and scoop out all of the butternut squash -should
   come out very easily and have nothing left but the skin, discard skin
   and transfer everything into a big pot. simmer for about another 5
   minutes. Take a hand mixer and mix everything until smooth- taste test
   it and see if it needs anymore salt
8. Scoop into bowls and garnish with fennel
   fronds. Enjoy!

I LOVE how Lori uses EVERY part of the Fennel in this. Very clever and professional. Let me know if you guys try this out!