So…sometimes I get creative when I’m in the kitchen. More so these days, as I now receive a big bin of fruits and veggies every Friday from my local CSA. And I love it. But, especially when I’m not always at home to work my way through them…I lose some of them to age. Which I hate. But I was determined not to let that happen this time around with the goodies I received this past week.
I did what anyone would do with another delivery lurking and a plethora of veggies still in the crisper drawer. That’s right…I made soup. But I decided to get a little more creative with the soup. Put some work into it. Not just throw a bunch of vegetables into a pot with vegetable broth and call it soup…nope. I wanted to go a little further than that.
And that’s what this recipe is all about:
Recipe: Vegan Creamy Roasted Vegetable Soup
Servings: 6
Time: Prep 20 minutes; Cook 40 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 sweet onion, chopped
- 4 large celery stalks, chopped
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 4 ears of corn, grilled, then kernels sliced from the cob
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 pound red potatoes, quartered
- 1 yellow squash
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 1/2 tsp dried tarragon
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 3 tbsp fresh parsley
- pinch of red pepper flakes
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk (or milk substitute)
- salt & pepper to taste
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Slice the yellow squash and place on a baking sheet. Spray with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt. Place the green bell pepper, whole, onto the baking sheet as well and place in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes, then turn the bell pepper. Continue to bake for another 15 minutes before removing and allowing to cool.
Heat your outdoor grill or indoor grill pan. Shuck your ears of corn, spray with olive oil and place on the grill. Grill the corn, turning every few minutes until kernels begin to lightly brown. Remove from grill pan and slice away from the cob.
While the vegetables roast in the oven, begin to chop your onion, celery, potatoes and garlic.
Place a stock pot over medium-high heat on the stove and add the olive oil. Place the onion and celery in the pot and begin to sautee, until soft. Add the garlic and continue to cook until fragrant, about 1 minute more. Toss in the roasted squash and stir. Add the vegetable broth and bring up to a simmer.
After adding the broth begin to remove the skin from the roasted bell pepper. Remove the seeds and chip the roasted pepper and add to the simmering soup. Stir in. Add the corn. Then drop in the sliced potatoes. Then season with the red pepper flakes, basil, oregano, tarragon, and fresh parsley. Then add the bay leaf. Stir well.
Turn the heat down to low and partially cover the pot. Allow to cook for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove the bay leaf.
Remove from heat and add 1 cup of unsweetened almond milk. Stir.
Using an immersion blender, or doing a couple batches in a regular blender, puree the soup until it is smooth and creamy. Season with salt and pepper if needed.
Serve.
~*~*~
This was a fun soup to make up, using the vegetables I had remaining in my fridge from my last CSA drop. It almost tastes like a curry…it’s a fantastic flavor. By roasting the vegetables before adding them to the soup, the flavor really popped. The same went for grilling the corn. It just really brought out all the sweetness and flavors in the vegetables.
Huge fan of this soup. Not bad for just making something up on the fly. I should do it more often…
The Celiathlete 