Roasted Root Veggie Soup

I don't know about you, but I ate a lot over the holidays.  And then, I ate leftovers for several weeks after.  Dips and crackers still abound!  Oh my gut.  I needed some roughage!

Thanks to Pinterest I found just what I was looking for; a link to a roasted root vegetable soup.  The thing I liked most about this recipe was, aside from the olive oil to roast the vegetables, there was no other fat in this soup.  No butter, no cream.  A satisfying, hearty soup that is still good for you.

For this soup, I used rutabaga, turnips, carrots and potato.  The glory of this recipe is that you can use any root vegetable you like.  I had never had rutabaga or turnips, but I haven't run into a roasted vegetable that I didn't like, so I went with it.  I almost threw in some beets but I wasn't sure that my father would eat pink soup.  However, if you have a little girl living in your house, how much fun would she have eating pink soup?!?!

I should note that if you're on a low-carb diet, this dish is not for you.  All root veggies are super starchy.  Personally I try to eat as few processed starches as I can (pasta and bread) but I figure if it's something I can eat straight out of the ground, it's gotta be good!  :o)

Roasted Root Vegetable Soup
(Adapted from Nourishing Days)
Roughly 4 pounds root vegetables (I used 1 rutabaga, 3 turnips, 3 carrots and 1 potato... I didn't actually weigh it)
4 t minced garlic (or 1-2 cloves per roasting pan, minced)
1 large yellow onion, cut into eighths
1/4 - 1/2 c of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
2 quarts chicken stock (can sub vegetable stock if you want to make this a totally vegetarian meal)
Cayenne to taste (I think I used 4 dashes... I likes me some heat)
Paprika to taste (Again, I think I used 4ish dashes)
Juice of 2 lemons
Salt and pepper to taste

Pre-heat oven to 425.  Trim, peel and chop all veggies into 1 inch pieces.  Place veggies, garlic and onion on a sheet pan and drizzle with EVOO.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and then toss veggies to coat.  (I roasted each vegetable on its own sheet pan - thank God my mom has 2 ovens! - with a 1/4 of the onion and 1 t of minced garlic per sheet.)  Roast veggies in the oven for 45-50 minutes until veggies are soft and have a gorgeous golden color.  Toss veggies at least once through roasting.

When veggies are done, place them in a large soup pot.  Add chicken stock, cayenne, paprika and lemon juice to the pot.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes.  Blend your soup using an immersion (hand-held) blender or blend in batches in your blender or food processor.  Taste for seasoning before serving.

Your soup should be creamy and will probably have tiny bits of vegetable without being chunky.  This soup is hearty, and satisfying and SO GOOD FOR YOU!!!!