Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients:

4 cups vegetable stock
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 Granny Smith apples, cored and diced
2 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced
2 sprigs fresh sage (optional)
2 white onion, diced
1  teaspoon salt, or more to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper, or more to taste
pinch of ground cinnamon and nutmeg
pinch of cayenne pepper (opt)
1/2 cup coconut milk
(optional garnishes: extra coconut milk, extra cayenne, toasted pepitas)

Directions:

1. Add vegetable stock, garlic, carrot, apple, butternut squash, sage, onion, salt, pepper, cayenne, cinnamon and nutmeg to a slow cooker.  Toss to combine.
2. Cook for 6-8 hours on low, or 3-4 hours on high, or until the squash is completely tender and mashes easily with a fork.  Stir in the coconut milk.  Remove the sage sprigs.
3. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup until smooth. Taste, and season with additional salt, pepper and cayenne if needed.
4. Serve warm, with optional garnishes if desired.

Source: Gimme Some Oven blog
*Note: This makes a double batch of soup so you can freeze half for another night!