Creole Spiced Butternut Squash & Sweet Potato Soup with Vegan Parmesan Croutons

This. Is. Creole Spiced Butternut Squash Soup!*
HAU HAU HAU! 

Let's make some.

 Creole Spiced Butternut Squash & Sweet Potato Soup with Vegan Parmesan Croutons

• 1 Butternut Squash (peeled, seeded and cubed) 
• 1 Cup Carrots (diced) 
• 2 Leeks (thinly sliced) 
• 1 Sweet Potato (cubed - you can peel it if you want but I didn't) 
• 5 Cups Better Than Bouillon Vegan No Chicken Broth (made per instructions on the package)
• 1 Tablespoon Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning
• 2 Dashes Liquid Smoke
• 1 teaspoon Fresh Ground Black Peppercorn (you might want more to sprinkle over the top)
• 2 teaspoons Louisiana Hot Sauce
• 1 Tablespoon White Wine
• 2 teaspoons Lemon Juice
• 1 teaspoon Cumin
• 2 Cloves Garlic (minced) 
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• Dry Roasted Pepitas (pumpkin seeds)  to sprinkle over the top

Toss all ingredients except Pepitas into a large soup pot or Dutch oven and heat to a boil. Then cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Let simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until all the vegetables are extremely tender.

Now if you have an immersion blender, you can use it to puree your soup but if you are using an enameled  Dutch oven you may not want to do that because the immersion blenders can chip your Dutch oven coating. Instead, you can puree your soup in batches in a regular blender.

Serve with some Black Pepper and Pepitas sprinkled over the top and large French Style faux cheese crusted croutons (recipe below)

This recipe makes 4 large bowls of soup... but don't be afraid and prepare for glory! No surrender! That is Vegan Law! No vegan soup shall be spared!  

Don't forget the Vegan Parmesan Croutons... We made ours large to be dipped in the soup but I also like them with Caesar salads.

Vegan Parmesan Croutons

• 1/2  Baguette (sliced diagonally into coins)
• 1/3 Cup Olive Oil 
• 1 Tablespoon Vegan Parmesan Cheese per slice

Heat oven to 400.

Brush each slice of Bread with Olive Oil and then sprinkle 1 tablespoon of Vegan Parmesan Cheese over the top evenly. Place them on your loyal pizza stone and put them into the oven.

Pull them out when they are a light golden brown. It shouldn't take more than 10 minutes.

This is the Vegan Parmesan Cheese we used.

* This is probably only funny if you remember the movie based on Frank Miller's graphic novel 300. I admit I was misquoting 300 a little too much yesterday while I was cooking.

Example : "Tonight we dine on CARAMEL!" ( I was making Vegan Caramel Corn)