Please help me welcome my friend and new contributor, Kathy Magilton. I’ve been dying for you to meet Kathy. In addition to being one of my dearest and greatest friends, she is one of the best fitness trainers in Toronto (in another lifetime she used to work as the health editor at FASHION magazine with me and Ceri), formerly owned the health food delivery business Sweet Potato and is a nutrition maven extraordinaire. I often call her in a panic with health or nutrition questions. And, thankfully, she always takes my call.

I’d heard the raves about this soup and finally twisted her arm to make it for us. You’ll also be seeing a lot more of Kathy on SPC as she’ll be helping contribute more recipes and fabulous nutritional information. In the meantime, you need to try this soup. Because she’s that kind of friend, she gave Scarlett and I a batch, and it blew our minds. It was sweet and delicous. Scarlett gobbled it up. Score one for veggie soup. Here’s Kathy…. LK

I’m a vegetarian. Well, in the interest of full disclosure, I do eat some fish, so, technically, I’m the oft-maligned can-a-tuna-tarian. The point is I eat a ton of veggies and I think soup, especially pureed soup, is the perfect veggie delivery system. When do you ever sit down to a meal of butternut squash, parsnips, sweet potatoes, carrots, onion and, oh yeah, an apple. Me neither. But that’s exactly what this awesome soup contains and it could not be easier to make.

I adapted this little gem from a Nigella Lawson recipe that also called for marsala wine and blue cheese, but I prefer to keep it simple and what kid eats blue cheese, never mind wine? What I love most about it is that you leave the peel on the squash, sweet potato and apple since it roasts down to soft, caramelized yumminess in the oven. It also saves so much effort and adds to the antioxidant and fibre content. Plus each ½ c serving counts as 1 of your 6-9 fruit and veg requirements for the day. However, the real magic of this soup is that it falls into the stealth health category for kids….lots of veggies they might otherwise not eat disguised in a fun, orange puree and sweetened with apple, parsnip and cinnamon. Even my ever so discerning (read: picky) niece Fynn will eat it. Success!

Roasted Vegetable Soup

1 large butternut squash, seeded and rough chopped
1 large sweet potato, rough chopped
2 medium carrots, rough chopped
2 medium parsnips, rough chopped
1 medium onion or 3-4 large shallots, peeled and chopped
1 granny smith apple, cored and chopped
1 litre homemade or organic store bought low sodium vegetable broth (if you prefer chicken broth and you’re not a vegetarian, go for it)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 glugs olive oil (enough to coat veggies)
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Preheat the oven to 400C

Chop all the veggies and lay them out in a single layer on a cookie sheet or roasting pan, except the apple. No need to be too precise here since you puree everything in the end. Try to keep a uniform size so things cook equally.

Cut the squash in half, cross-wise where the narrow neck meets the wider bottom. Take off the top and bottom to create flat surfaces to work with. I just chop around the seeds in the bottom bit (you lose some of the flesh but its easier than fussing with scooping it out).

Toss with olive oil and cinnamon to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 35-40 mins or until veggies and skins of the squash are soft and the edges of some of the vegetables are caramelized. Add the chopped apple, toss and return to oven for 5-10 mins to soften the apple.

Remove from the oven and cool for about 15 minutes.

Add ½ the stock to your blender, then half the veggies. Begin to puree and add more stock if the mixture seems too think to blend. Repeat with the rest of the veggies and stock. I often thin it out at the end with a little water once I see what the final consistency is going to be. Add salt and pepper to taste if needed.

This soup freezes really well. Great as a starter, it’s also hearty enough to be a meal. However, it is missing protein so you can remedy that by adding a dollop of white bean puree or pop a slice of French bread with your favourite cheese under the broiler and serve on top of the soup like a giant, happy crouton. Of course, there’s always the go to soup sidekick–grilled cheese.

Fynn was unable to join me for this round of cooking, so I had my new fur “baby” Cindy Lou Who oversee the process.

 Honestly, she was thrilled with the outcome.