Soup Weather!

It's been a blustery, rainy, chilly couple of days. When that happens, I always think of soup. Bone-chilling weather requires bone-warming soupaliciousness. Soups come in so many varieties - from the left-over everything-in-the-pot variety to the cookbook or magazine favorites. What's great about soups, is that you can make a little or a lot, add ingredients and modify seasonings, whip one up in half an hour or take your time on a lazy Sunday afternoon. It's sometimes tough to know where to start. This week I let the produce in my fridge point me in the right direction.

Butternut squash! Yes - the perfect antidote to cold gloomy weather = Roasted Winter Vegetable Soup!  After further inspection, I found I had almost everything needed to assemble this lovely blend of colorful deliciousness.  So I peeled, seeded and cut the squash into wedges.

Then I did the same with some lovely orange carrots.

Next on the prep table - fresh tomatoes, onions and garlic cloves.  I left the skins on the cloves - they bake up moister that way. Drizzling of olive oil, sprinkle kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, then a toss to coat.

Why on two pans?  Well, that's a lot of veggies to roast, so you don't want to crowd them too much. Plus, later, the tomato pan contents are all going to be blended, while the the other pan cools. So, those go in the oven for a little roasting.  Meanwhile, I cleaned and copped a bunch of dark green kale.

Don't those leaves look gorgeous? These babies are the superest of super foods. And so tasty!












I chopped them in about one-inch strips, slicing down the spine of the larger leaves, so you don't end up with long sloppy greens dangling off your spoon!







Then I got out my favorite soup pot.  I just love, love, love my La Cruset pot. It holds temp so beautifully and simmers everything so nicely. Plus I get a little work-out every time I take it out of the cupboard. These puppies are heavy!

About 8 cups of vegetable stock went into that waiting pot.

Once the veggies were done roasting, the garlic cloves were set aside,

and the tomatoes, onions and their juices were scrapped into the pot.

Then the yummie baked garlic cloves were squished out of their skins and into the pot.  My immersion blender went to work and churned all this into one semi-chunky pot of ymmers.

What a difference a couple of minutes with the blender makes! Speaking of blenders - if your kitchen doesn't have this magical stick blender, use your regular blender in batches, using only a cup or two of the broth to make the blending easier, then add the rest of the broth to the pot at the end.

Next, that beautiful kale went in along with some bay leaves and fresh thyme (there's no need to tear the leaves off, you can remove the stems before serving cuz the leaves will have cooked off by then).

While this lovely concoction cooked, for about a half hour, I chopped up the squash and carrots into 1/2 inch chunks.

Once the kale was tender, the remaining veggies went into the pot along with a can of rinsed cannelini beans. This beautiful mixture was seasoned with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and a little white wine; and simmered til it was warmed through.

Can you smell it? Can you taste it? The depth of flavor from those roasted veggies, the pepperiness from the kale and the creaminess of the squash makes for a rich, warm, hearty and filling soup.

Soup, glorious soup! Slurp it up with some crusty French bread. Stay warm, my friends!

Roasted Winter Vegetable Soup

4 carrots, peeled and quartered

4 tomatoes, cut into wedges

1 onion, cut into wedges

1 large (or 2 small) butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch wedges

8 garlic cloves, unpeeled

2 Tbsp olive oil

4 can (15 oz) vegetable broth

4 cups kale, finely chopped (or Swiss chard)

1 can (15 oz) white beans, great northern or cannelini

1/2 cup white wine

3 fresh thyme sprigs

2 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Arrange tomatoes, onion and garlic on one rimmed baking sheet. Arrange carrots and squash on a separate sheet,  Drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Bake until vegetables are tender and browned, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes.

2. Set cooked squash pan aside to cool slightly, then cut into 1/2 inch pieces.

3. Scrape tomatoes and onions with accumulated juices into the soup pot (or blender, if you don't have an immersion blender). Squish roasted garlic out of their papers and into the tomato pot. Pour wine onto the baking sheet and scrape up any remaining bits, add to tomatoes.  Puree mixture until almost smooth (you can add some of the broth at this time to make the blending easier.

4. Add remaining broth, kale, thyme, bay leaf to pot and bring to boil.  Reduce heat, simmer uncovered until kale is tender, about 30 minutes.

5. Add rinsed beans and reserved carrots and squash to soup along with remaining seasonings.  Simmer to blend flavors, about 10 minutes, Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Discard thyme sprigs and bay leaves.