Root Vegetable Soup

Almost everyone in the house is currently sick. I have a nasty cold that has been lingering for ages, my son has a cough and is terribly congested and my daughter has a horrible snotty nose and just today developed an eye infection and I had to take her to the Dr. It’s that trip to the Dr that made me want to give my slow cooker a big hug. It was unexpected and took time out of the day that was my only unscheduled time. Time that, without my slow cooker, I would have had reserved for dinner prep. Luckily for me I was able to roll through the day secure in the knowledge that my slow cooker was hard at work!

Sick has always meant soup for me, every since I was little. It’s so warm and comforting and root vegetable soup is the perfect thing for sick days. Actually, it’s the perfect thing for any day. I was craving it last week when I made my meal plan long before the entire house got sick (except my husband, he never seems to get sick for some reason. This is good and bad. Good because he is very good at taking care of us and bad because every time he enters the room I feel like he is showing off the fact that he isn’t sick somehow.)

I like this soup so much because it uses ingredients that I never ate till I moved to The Netherlands. Things like parsnips, celery root and sweet potatoes weren’t part of my diet growing up. I’m so glad I got a little adventurous and brought some home!

Root Vegetable Soup

The vegetables:

• sweet potatoes
• carrots
• parsnips
• celery root

I had never seen parsnips or celery root before I moved. Parsnips look like big white carrots but have a mild peppery flavor. It’s rich and not at all sweet. Celery root taste like celery but a little milder. I prefer using it in soups because I don’t like the texture of cooked celery.

I cut these up the night before because I find it easier than explaining to my kids why they can’t help. They can also be cut up up to a week before and stashed in the fridge. This is very handy if you prep for the week as I try to do.

 

So done cutting and into the fridge till the morning.

 

The next morning I add:

• One of these magic bullion cubes
• a big spoonful of chopped onion (if you buy buy pre chopped because like me you hate chopping onions more than nearly anything else ever) or one whole onion, chopped
• 1 can of diced tomato
• 1 tbsp of oregano
• 2 big cloves of garlic

It’s a short list. The vegetables are so flavorful you don’t need anything else!

Just put everything in the slow cooker and give it a stir. Add just enough water to cover the vegetables and set it to medium.

Here you have some options.

1. you can eat it just how it is
2. you can use your immersion blender to puree it a little
3. you can put half of it into your blender (very carefully) and then add the puree back into the pot

Blending half will give it a really nice thick texture but you really want some of the chunks of veg in there as well.

And done!! Delicious Root Vegetable Soup!

My kids like grated goat cheese on theirs. I always add some Tobasco (but I’m from Texas so everything needs Tobasco).

My daughter ate 2 bowls and then stole her brothers when he wasn’t looking. It was great. Total “you snooze you loose” situation!

 

Enjoy!