Winter Vegetable Soup

justcallmetoni's Note:

With the liberal use of root vegetables, this Australian soup shows its British origins. In preparing the soup, feel free to make substitutions in the vegetables, for example using sweet potatoes instead of white one. Just remember to keep the approximate volume the same. January 2007: I have finally made this soup and added both indgredients and directions to improve the final dish. Changes made since the first two reviews are noted.

• Total Time: 50 mins
• Prep Time: 25 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 2 potatoes, diced
• 2 large carrots or 3 small carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1 large parsnip, peeled and sliced
• 10 ounces butternut squash
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon thyme (added January 2007)
• 1/4 teaspoon marjoram (added January 2007)
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 4 cups water
• 1 cup nonfat yogurt (optional) or 1 cup soy yogurt (optional)
• ground black pepper
• soy sauce or salt
• chopped chives (to garnish) (optional)

Directions:

1. Add all of the vegetables, stock, water and bay leaves to a large pot and bring to the boil.
2. Reduce the heat and simmer until the vegetables are quite soft.
3. Allow the vegetables to cool a little then puree in a food processor in batches until smooth. (Added January 2007: Include 2 cups of the cooking liquid reserving the rest to adjust the thickness later.).
4. Return to the heat and stir in the pepper and soy sauce or salt.
5. If using, stir in the yogurt taking care to not let the soup boil. (Added January 2007: If the soup is too thick for your taste, stir in a bit of the reserved cooking liquid.).
6. Serve sprinkled with chopped chives.

Reviews

[katew]

Absolutely perfect for a cold winter's night - really easy to make and low in fat and healthy and so delicious - but of course I went overboard and topped mine with coriander AND mozzarella but that's just me - the consistency was thick as I had a big bit of butternut to use up so many thanks to you toni.

[Chef #256145]

Made this with a group of students and we all loved it! It is a little thin, but very tasty and fun to make.

[Ms*Bindy]

This was easy to make. I didn't have a parsnip, so just skipped it. Also did not use the yogurt. I liked the soup, but something about the texture was just a little strange. I can't really describe. I think because I am used to a thick soup like this being a creamed soup, and this is not....my taste buds are being tricked.