Moroccan Chicken and Butternut Squash Soup

So it's been cold. Really cold. And what's the best thing to make for this type of weather? Soup. This flavorful soup is very simple to make and features a lot of great cold weather vegetables, like butternut squash. I actually made this soup in December, but froze a good portion of it for January. Perhaps I saw this winter vortex coming.

Moroccan Chicken and Butternut Squash Soup (serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 1 TB olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 3 (4-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 to 1/4 tsp ground red pepper
• 3 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash
• 2 TB no-salt-added tomato paste
• 4 cups chicken stock 
• 1/3 cup uncooked couscous
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced into 3/4-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
• 2 tsp grated orange rind

Directions:

Heat a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion, and cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add chicken; cook for 4 minutes, browning on all sides. Add cumin, cinnamon, and pepper to pan; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add butternut squash and tomato paste; cook 1 minute.

Stir in Chicken Stock, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 8 minutes.

Stir in couscous, salt, and zucchini; cook 5 minutes or until squash is tender. Remove pan from heat. Stir in chopped basil and orange rind.