Orange Power Soup

Not orange like the fruit...orange like the COLOR! 

Now that we have that cleared up, I wanted to share with you a recipe I made up on the fly that turned out to be AWESOME!!

I had gone to the farmer's market, and as is my routine every time, I went a little crazy at the produce stand.  I can't control myself!  The prices are just too good and the selection is fantastic.  I got four giant organic carrots for $1.00.  ONE DOLLAR!  I used them in two ways...I cut two of them down into my own "homemade" carrot sticks.  I don't like those baby carrots you buy in a bag at the grocery store.  I like making them the size and thickness I prefer and my husband even said they tasted much better than those baby carrots.

The second way was cutting them up, tossing them with my other orange veggies from the farmer's market, roasting them all and turning them into soup.

There are three different vegetables on that tray...all representing the color orange.

I also had some butternut squash and sweet potatoes.  I figured, let's roast all these beauties up and see what happens.  I didn't even know then that I would turn them into soup.  I was surveying the rest of my bounty of vegetables and had another onion to use as well as some garlic.  Any food I can use onion and garlic with, I'll do it!  

My idea continued to unfold...I thought OK, why not sautee up the onion and garlic in a big pot, then add the roasted orange veggies, some chicken stock or water, maybe some white wine and blend it all into a creamy soup.  YES!  I was onto something.

Well, it turned out SUPER delicious!  It's always a success when my not-so-veggie-loving husband enjoys it.  He even said he would eat it again!  It's true he's not the biggest sweet potato fan so maybe next time I'll use regular potato with the carrot and butternut squash. That's the fun of cooking.  You get to experiment and try different options.

I'll try my best to remember the steps I took to make this creation.  As I said, it was completely made up on the fly.

Ingredients:

• 2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 large butternut squash, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2-3 cloves of garlic (however garlic-y you want to make yours), chopped
• 1/4 cup dry white wine (I use Pinot Grigio)
• 1 box chicken stock (or, for free, water!  I was out of stock and wound up using mostly water to make it into soup this time.)
• EVOO
• S&P
• Garlic salt
• Cumin (*Honestly I cannot remember the spices I used but I think I used a teaspoon of cumin and paprika.  This is what happens when you make stuff up as you go.  I need to write this down next time AS I cook!*)
• Paprika

Instructions:

• Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees.
• On a large baking sheet, toss the orange veggies together with some S&P, EVOO, garlic salt, cumin and paprika.
• Roast until tender, about 30 minutes depending on the size you chopped them.
• PRO TIP: Chop everything roughly the same size so they all have the same cooking time.
• Meanwhile, in a large pot, sautee up the onion and garlic for about 5 minutes.  Also season this with S&P.
• I had a bit of wine to use up so I deglazed the pot with the wine.  This is optional!
• Once the veggies are done, add them into the large pot and stir.
• At this point I had a tiny bit of frozen chicken stock left so I added that in.  I needed much more liquid to make it into a "soup" so I just added water.  With my other seasonings it was fine since the water wouldn't make it taste bland.
• REMINDER: Season to your taste and taste as you season!  Add a little more seasoning if you prefer.  Just remember, once you add it in, you can't take it out. :)
• I added water in small batches.  I didn't want it to be super soup-y, haha.  I was going for a thick, creamy texture.
• I blended the whole pot of veggies with an immersion blender.
• PRO TIP: If you don't have one of these gadgets in your kitchen, I suggest buying one immediately!  They are inexpensive and so easy to use.  Plus it saves you time, effort and dirtying another dish to transfer the mixture into a blender.
• Blend away until you have nice and creamy orange soup!

Toppings....

Feel free to eat this plain or top with something fun!  This night I happened to have kale on hand so I crisped it up in the oven to make kale chips. I liked the idea of some crunchy texture on top of the smooth soup.  I also added a bit of Parmesan cheese, a touch of fried onion (again for the crunch factor) and a little drizzle of EVOO.

I am DEFINITELY making this one again!  And, it's a giant bowl of VEGGIES so you can totally eat a second helping. :)