Spiced Roasted Parsnip Soup

Serves 6

Recipe from Good Food Vegetarian Christmas

Adapted and Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

If you’ve not had parsnips, this would be a great recipe to acquaint yourself with this root vegetable. Parsnips look like big white carrots.  Peel and trim them as you would carrots. They are available in the fall. In this recipe, roasting the veggies with the spices deepens the flavors before turning it all into a delicious soup.  And, with most soups, it will taste even better the next day.  Serve this with Ruby Salad with Crumbled Feta and Spicy Pepitas (Pumpkin Seeds)  for a fabulous autumn dinner with friends.  Everything can be made in advance.  Now, that's being party savvy!

                       

2 Tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon coriander seeds or ground coriander

1 teaspoon cumin seed or ground cumin

½ teaspoon ground turmeric

½ teaspoon mustard seeds or ground mustard

¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 large onion, cut into chunks

2 garlic cloves, unpeeled

1 ½ lbs. parsnips, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces

1 medium carrot, thickly sliced

2 plum tomatoes, quartered or 1 (16 oz.) can of tomatoes, drained

4 cups vegetable broth plus 1 cup of water

1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Preheat oven to 400°F

 Place the onions, garlic cloves, parsnips, carrot and plum tomatoes on a rimmed baking sheet.  (If using canned tomatoes, wait to put them in the soup pot with the broth.) Drizzle with the olive oil. Sprinkle the vegetables with the spices and then toss the vegetables with the spices until the vegetables are coated with the oil and spices. Roast for 30 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.  Remove the garlic cloves from the pan. 

Squeeze the roasted garlic from the clove skin onto the vegetables.  Discard the garlic clove skin. Place the vegetable mixture into a soup pot. ***  (If using canned tomatoes, add them to the soup pot now.)  Add the broth and the water.  Using a stick blender, blend until smooth.  Heat until barely simmering.  Remove from the heat.  Stir in the lemon juice.  Serve.

***If you don’t have a stick blender, spoon the vegetable mixture into a food processor or blender with half the broth and process until smooth. Pour into a pan with the remaining broth and water and then heat until barely simmering. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice.

Nutritional Information Per Serving:  233 calories; 6 g protein; 30 g carbohydrates; 10 g fat (1 g saturated fat); 10 fiber; 0 sugar; 1.1 g sodium