Roasted Root Vegetable Soup

When I was at the grocery store with the "good vegetables" last week, I looked around to see what appealed to me. Of course, I should have thought about this before leaving for the grocery store, but there you go. :)

Our weather has turned very foggy and cold. Yup, Fall has arrived (though I don't kid myself - we will be seeing more hot weather before Halloween). I found myself attracted to all the root vegetables, so I bought a variety. At home, I already had some acorn squash from Trader Joes - I really like acorn squash and try to keep it on hand when in season. I also picked up two quarts of my favorite soup broth - Organic No-Chicken Broth by Imagine.

When I got home, I looked up some recipes and I found this Winter Root Vegetable Soup recipe on allrecipes.com, my favorite recipe site. I decided to adapt it to what I had on hand. I did make some changes. For example, neither I nor my daughters need all that heavy cream, so I left it out. I sauteed the onion in olive oil, not butter. I also did not puree the soup, as we love vegetable soup with chunks of veggies around here. I grated up some Gruyere cheese to add as a garnish. Yum.

Roasted Root Vegetable Soup

• 2 parsnips, peeled and cut into 1/2"(ish) cubes
  
• 2 turnips, peeled and cut into 1/2"(ish) cubes
  
• 4 (smallish) carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2"(ish) cubes
  
• 1 rutabaga, peeled and cut into 1/2"(ish) cubes
  
• 1 acorn squash, cut in half, seeds removed, and flesh removed with a melon baller
  
• 2 Idaho potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2" (ish) cubes
  
• olive oil
  
• salt
  
• pepper
  
• 1 Tbsp Herbs du Provence
  
• 1 onion, diced
  
• 3 cubes of frozen crushed garlic (diced fresh cloves would work)
  
• 2 quarts vegetable broth (I used No-Chicken broth)
  
• grated Gruyere cheese for garnish
  

Two of my favorite products. No-Chicken Broth and frozen crushed garlic (from Trader Joes).

Preheat the oven to 425° F. Prepare all the root veggies and the acorn squash. I could not fit them into one pan, so I used my two smallish cookie sheets that have a 1" lip. Divide the veggies between the two pans, drizzle olive oil over each, and then some salt and pepper. Mix to distribute the oil and seasonings. Put into preheated oven and stir every 15 minutes until done - I roasted each pan about 38-40 minutes.

Veggies about to be roasted (left) and Veggies roasted (right)

Next, dice the onion. (I would have also used celery as called for in the original recipe, if I'd had any.) Heat a soup pot, add some olive oil, and saute the onion. Add the garlic. When the onion is soft and translucent, add the broth. Bring to a gentle simmer and add the roasted veggies. Also add the Herbs de Provence (or whatever seasoning you prefer).

Simmer, very gently, about 30 minutes, or until the flavors come together. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Grate some Gruyere and serve as a garnish in each bowl.

Top picture is at the beginning of simmering, bottom picture is when I warmed it for dinner - much more like a stew.

Notes:

OMIGOSH. I can't believe how yummy this soup was when warmed up. My plans of serving it with a salad or another side dish went up in smoke - no time to prepare. The kids dove in, eating it with the grated Gruyere and sliced whole wheat sourdough. My mouth is SO HAPPY! I doubt there will be enough for another full meal as those kids had multiple servings. ;)

• Carnivore's rating (DD1): 4.5/5
  
• Vegetarian's rating (DD2): 4.8/5
  
• My rating: 5/5