Like so many other Vermonters, Hannaford Career Center Culinary Instructor Jill Huizenga tells us in the companion story that she likes warm soups in the fall. From hearty classics to creative concoctions, the soup recipes below are sure to inspire your own culinary adventures this season. We got these recipes from Blue Cross of Vermont, which gathered them from their employees.

Grab your spoon, and dive in!

Butternut Squash & Tomato Soup

“This is so good with crusty bread, and it’s so easy,” Blue Cross Vermont Research Specialist Kasey Staake said.

Ingredients

1/2 butternut squash sliced

16 oz tomatoes

1 head of garlic

1/3 cup fresh basil

1/2 yellow onion chopped

1/3 cup olive oil

Salt & pepper to taste

1 cup vegetable broth

1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions

• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Place butternut squash, tomatoes, garlic, basil, and onion on a baking pan. Sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.
• In a large pot, heat the vegetable broth and pour in the baked butternut squash and tomato mixture, including the juices. Blend with an immersion blender, then stir in heavy cream.
• Let it heat a few more minutes, then serve.

BRISTOL’S ABBY HUMMEL in 2022 shows the winter squash she roasted to be made into soup for the Kitchen Soup Project.
Photo courtesy of Abby Hummel

Stamppot

“When I was growing up, we were allowed to choose our birthday meal and given that I’m a soup weather baby, stamppot was almost always my choice,” said Blue Cross Vermont Medical/Clinical Coding Specialist Maggie Roddy.

Ingredients

1-ish pound of dark leafy greens, finely chopped. Kale is traditional, but you can use endive, curly endive, chard or spinach

2-ish pounds of potatoes, sweet or not, peeled or not, cut into chunks — russets are best

1-ish (or more) pounds precooked sausage, knockwurst, kielbasa, bratwurst, etc., cut into chunks or not

Milk

Butter

Salt

Pepper

Directions

• In a soup pot, boil the kale and potatoes together in water until the potatoes are tender. Drain, saving some of the liquid.
• Mash the potato/kale mixture with butter and milk until it’s a soupy texture (not a mashed potato texture).
• You can loosen the potato/kale mix with the reserved water if you don’t want it to be too rich.
• Nestle the precooked sausage into the pot. Bring everything back to a simmer. Heat the sausage through.
• Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Make it your own. Maggie said that some people will brown off a pound of bacon lardons (small strips or cubes of fatty bacon) to dress it up, and some might toss in a bit of vinegar. She suggests playing with the ratio of kale to potatoes, or using different veggies altogether, like carrots or parsnips.

“It’s really whatever you want to do, just don’t forget to call me for dinner!” she added.

Cream of Broccoli Soup

“I never make the same soup twice. I throw everything in but the kitchen sink… and measurements? They don’t exist. I just eyeball it,” said Amanda Bergeron, Blue Cross Vermont’s senior quality liaison. “I love a good cream of broccoli soup but with my own twist!”

Ingredients

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Celery

Onion

Garlic

Veggie or Chicken Broth

Homemade roux using butter, flour and cream or milk

Optional: Quinoa, meat, cheese, green onion, scallion

Directions

• Boil fresh broccoli, cauliflower, celery, onion and fresh garlic. Amanda emphasizes that you can use whatever you have on hand, like squash, zucchini, carrot or potatoes. Cook the vegetables to your preferred degree of done, then add the broth.
• Make homemade roux to thicken the soup using butter, flour and cream (or milk). To do this, heat some butter in a saucepan, add some flour (about equal portions of each), let it brown just the slightest bit, then add the liquid and let it thicken as it heats.
• Add the roux to veggie mix when it’s at the consistency desired.
• Then mix in spices to taste. Amanda uses salt, pepper, garlic and nutmeg.
• Incorporate any personal additions like cooked quinoa or prepared meat.
• Once served, you can top it with cheese like fresh mozzarella or grated Cabot cheddar and sprinkle with green onion or scallion on top.

Mexicali Soup

“This is my Mom’s Mexicali Soup. We love it, the kids love it, it’s a year-round soup that we ask for often,” said Operations Manager Julie Sancibrian of Blue Cross Vermont.

Ingredients

1 lb. lean ground beef or turkey

1 chopped onion

1 can sliced or diced potatoes

1 can green beans, cut up

2 cans stewed tomatoes

1 can corn

1 can chickpeas

1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 can cut carrots

1 teaspoon basil

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon chili powder

Garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper to taste

Directions

• Brown and drain beef or turkey in soup pot.
• Add chopped onion and cans of veggies, liquid and all (except for kidney beans).
• Add water or chicken broth to cover ingredients by a ½-inch.
• Season with oregano, basil and chili powder, then add garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper.
• Simmer until heated through.

Note: If using fresh potatoes and carrots, pre-cook them slightly before adding, or allow time for them to simmer until soft.

• Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream, and/or tortilla strips, if desired.