The weather is changing, thank God for soup !

  The past few days have been chilly to cold here, depending on the time of day.  Today there was the added bonus of rain and wind. Sigh...at times, it was like a monsoon out there.  It may have actually hit 50, but I wouldn't bet the farm on it.  lol  Tonight we have a frost warning until 8 AM, so the covers are back on the cold frame, where my little plot of lettuces, kale, chard and spinach are looking good.  The furnace is turned on, and even though it's set at 68 it's comfortable enough I guess.  Time to get the big flannel blankets out for the couch.


  This soup I made today is an approximation (aren't they all?) of a recipe that I saw somewhere, or maybe a friend sent it to me on Facebook, or--who knows?  I remember being taken with the original recipe, because all the ingredients are things that I have grown., and that I love.  And you get to roast veggies for it. And it is vegan, which is just a good thing to do now and then.  And it's very tasty while also being really nutritious. Are you interested yet?

 It is very beautiful, isn't it ?  It 's a Roasted Cauliflower and  Sweet Potato soup. In fact, it's a roasted almost everything soup. It started out like this:

 I washed and drained a head of cauliflower and then broke  it into florets.  I diced several sweet potatoes from the box that  had cuts from the spade or broken ends that all need using first.I thick sliced a large onion and peeled 7 cloves of garlic. After arranging these all on 2 small baking sheets, I drizzled them with EVOO and then sprinkled Garam Masala on the. Popped them into a 400 degree oven to roast for about 30 minutes.  The house smelled divine...

 Then (for good measure)  I peeled 3 more sweet potatoes and boiled them in about 2-3 cups spring water. When they were soft, and the roasted vegetables were done, the fun started.  I pureed the boiled sweet potatoes and the water in my blender. I poured most of that into the saucepan the 'taters came out of. I left some in the blender and  put all of the roasted garlic, and about half of the onions and cauliflower and sweet potatoes in  with it. Then I pureed all that together.  Just for fun (and extra B vitamins!) I added about 3 tablespoons of nutritional yeast. Whirred it a little more, to mix it in. Poured that and all the rest of the roasted chunky vegetables into the saucepan, stirred well and brought it back to a simmer.  Added salt and pepper, tasted. Added more salt, tasted. Hmmm...still needed something, but what ? 

I scoured the spice cabinet and finally found the gomasio I made last month. I went to the back porch and snipped some fresh parsley.  Put them both on top and VOILA !

Isn't that color glorious ?  And it tasted pretty darn good too.

(And that reminds me--we have a frost warning tonight--I better go cover those herb pots on the back deck !!)




Bon Apetit !!