A cure for what ails you: Roasted vegetable soup

Wintertime is wonderful for so many reasons, but getting a cold is not one of them. Unfortunately, a seasonal bout of sickies befell our casa last week. The grownups of the house are still in the thick of it, but little Beany is thankfully on the mends and rapidly gaining back all that toddler energy. And by gaining back that toddler energy, I mean tearing down the hall at lightning speed while her Kleenex-toting parents trot behind her like robots low on batteries. Zoom, zoom, zoom. Clunk.

Planning a menu amidst sniffles and sneezes is precarious work, especially when you have three separate diners to consider. Admittedly, our meals have been a little hodgepodge lately as a result, but we did manage to get all human members of the household around the table for the same meal recently. This roasted vegetable soup is incredibly simple to make, completely adaptable to the ingredients you have on hand and will warm you up in an instant. Even Beany got in on the action, gobbling up parsnips and squash like she owned the place. And this from the girl who wanted little more than yogurt and oranges for three straight days. It must have been just what that little tummy needed. Veggies do a body good.

••••••••••••••••••••

Roasted Vegetable Soup
Adapted slightly from Barefoot Contessa Family Style (p. 33)

• 1 ½ pounds carrots, peeled
• 1 pound parsnips, peeled
• 2 medium-sized sweet potatoes
• 1 butternut squash
• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 6-8 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Cover two rimmed baking sheets with foil, and set aside.

Cut the carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes and squash into 1-inch cubes. Divide them evenly between the two baking sheets, and drizzle with the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, toss so the vegetables are evenly coated and arrange them in a single layer. Bake for 20, then give everything a good toss. Bake for another 15 to 20 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.

In two batches, place the vegetables in a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Add 2 to 3 cups of chicken broth and 1 tablespoon of parsley, and pulse the soup into a course puree (I like more texture in my soup, so I left some larger vegetable pieces, but if you prefer a super smooth texture, just puree it a bit longer). Pour the puree into a large pot.

Reheat the soup, and add more chicken broth as need to reach your desired consistency. Season to taste.

••••••••••••••••••••

What’s your favorite warm-you-up dish? Do you have a go-to recipe for when the cold monster strikes? Do tell!

XO,
Katrina