Root Vegetable Soup

Now that we’re making our way towards winter, I have been making lots of soup and blended soups are my favorite. This recipe feels is simple and delicious, with the flavors coming mostly coming from the vegetables and only light seasoning. Plus, this soup seems to get better everyday it sits and the flavors mingle. It’s the ultimate cold-weather comfort food and I’ve been enjoying leftovers in all its splendor — with salads, sandwiches, and bread with butter. I modified this popular recipe from the New York Times Cooking.

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2-3 celery stalks, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 3 rosemary and/or thyme sprigs
• 2 bay leaves
• 6-8 cups vegetable broth, depending on how thick you like your soup
• Several mixed root vegetables (I used parsnip, turnip, carrot and sweet potato)
• 1+ cups root vegetable juice pulp (I used the root vegetable pulp, taken from Root to Rise before juicing the citrus)
• Salt and Pepper to taste, freshly ground when possible
• Lemon juice, olive oil, crushed chili flakes, and/or grated parmesan for serving, optional

Directions

1. Melt butter in a large stock pot. Stir in onion and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally until tender, about 10 minutes.
2. Stir in garlic. Remove rosemary and thyme leaves from sprigs. Add herb leaves and bay leaves; cook 1 minute.
3. Add root vegetables, 6 cups of broth, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to simmer, covered, until vegetables are tender, 30-40 minutes.
4. Remove bay leaves from the soup. Blend soup using a food processor or blender. Stir in juice pulp and add remaining broth to create the desired thickness. Season with lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.
5. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil, lemon juice, crushed chili and/or cheese.

Notes:

Juice pulp incorporates perfectly into blended soup. Believe it or not, this is the first season I’m adding juice pulp to soup, but it seems so obvious that I wonder why I haven’t tried it before! Try it in your favorite blended soup, and leave me the recipe in the comments.