Root Veggie Soup

If you don't already know, our family LOVES soup. It's one of many dishes that we make often. Soup can be very filling if you add the right ingredients, and it's a perfect cold weather meal.

I'm sure there are some people out there who don't know what a root veggie is, so let me tell you. When you think of roots, you probably imagine the bottom of a plant that you pull out of the soil.

Well, you're right for thinking that. But when it comes to root veggies, it's a little different. Some veggies ARE the actual root. Root veggies grow underground, and include:

• carrots

• potatoes (including sweet potatoes)

• beets

• turnips

• ginger

• radishes

• garlic

Check out these baby potatoes that I grew. I thought my potato plants died, so I decided to dump the pots. When I did, this is what I found, little potatoes that clearly needed more time to grow.

Anyway, here's what you'll need to make your roasted root veggie soup. And as I always say, these measurements are not exact. I eyeball ingredients when I cook.

• 5 carrots cut into 1 inch pieces

• 6 medium red potatoes diced

• 1 medium sweet potato diced

• 1 yellow onion cut into wedges

• 1 cup of mushrooms

• 4 cloves of garlic

• 1/2 tsp of thyme

• 2 tbsp of olive oil

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 tsp pepper

• 4 cups of chicken broth or veggie broth, whichever you prefer

Put your cut sweet potatoes, red potatoes, carrots and onions in a bowl. Add the olive oil, thyme salt and pepper then toss it all to coat the veggies. Put the veggies on a baking pan and roast them in oven at 400° for 25 minutes. While the veggies are roasting, saute mushrooms in a little olive oil until tender, then add them to the other veggies. Blend less than half of the roasted veggies with a cup of chicken (or veggie) broth, then put everything together with the rest of the broth in a pot.

Serve and enjoy!