Moments of inspiration. They happen at really odd times. Maybe you’re struck with an idea for a salad while you’re checking the mail. While stuck in traffic, perhaps you think of the perfect addition to something you’ve made for years. Those moments are fun. Those moments are exciting. You want to go straight to the grocery store and grab what you need. This roasted carrot, squash, and potato soup is not the result of one of those moments.
There’s another kind of inspiration too. Sometimes necessity can be an amazing source of creativity. Looking into our refrigerator, there is no possible discussion or debate about it being half-empty or half-full. That sucker is over-flowing. When Melissa and I grocery shop at the beginning of the month, we usually pick up items with certain dishes in mind. At least in our corner of the world, grocery stores don’t sell most things by the tablespoon or by 3/4 of a cup. So, what we end up with are a lot unused ingredients that don’t necessarily go together. Obviously we aren’t going to let those items go to waste simply because the dish we needed them for originally has already been made.
This is where that second kind of creativity comes in. Rather than having the idea of what to make come first and the acquisition of the ingredients second, it becomes a puzzle of how to make the ingredients we already have into a composed, coherent dish. I’ve done the “if it’s in the fridge it’s in the potato salad” version of making room in the refrigerator. (See photo below.)
It’s a lot of fun but it’s not what I’m talking about here. I’m talking about playing the at home version of the T.V. show Chopped. You take a bunch of seemingly random ingredients and you create a balanced and composed dish. It’s challenging and fun and it generates some really creative and innovative ideas. At least for me, it doesn’t matter if the dish that I “discover” is new and unique to the world. It’s new and unique to me, and that is what’s important. Whether or not somebody else thought of it first doesn’t change the fact that I thought of it myself. That’s a satisfying feeling.
I started poking around the kitchen. I grabbed a few potatoes, carrots, a delicata squash and an acorn squash, a couple small onions, garlic, celery, and a bunch of cilantro. It was windy and rainy outside and it felt like a soup kind of day. Even when you’re working with relatively few ingredients, countless dishes and variations of those dishes are possible. It depends completely upon what you choose to highlight. I decided that I wanted to focus on the carrots. I would use the squash to give it a “rustic-ness.” The potatoes would add body and thickness and the onions and garlic would do what onions and garlic do, namely make things better wherever they go. (They’re the Mary Poppins of ingredients in my mind.) The celery and cilantro would brighten things up.
Not to toot my own horn, but this soup turned out really well. Carrots and squash are naturally sweet. Roasting them not only brings out the sweetness, it also adds a depth of flavor that gives this soup a warming quality on an blustery day. Enjoy!
| Servings |
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- 4 Carrots washed, peeled, and cut into equal sized pieces
- 1 small to medium sized Delicata squash washed, peeled, seeded, and cut into equal sized pieces
- 1 small to medium Acorn squash washed, peeled, seeded, and cut into equal sized pieces
- 1 1/2 tsp dried cumin add more or less to taste
- 2 Tbs olive oil divided
- 1 tsp salt add more or less to taste
- 1/2 tsp pepper add more or less to taste
- 1 tsp sugar
- 3/4 lbs low to medium starch potato washed, peeled, and cut into 1/8's
- 2 small yellow onions coarsely chopped
- 3 stalks celery washed, trimmed, and chopped into equal sized pieces
- 1/2 Tbs garlic minced
- 4+ cups vegetable stock
- 3/4 cup cilantro washed and coarsely chopped
Ingredients
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- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine carrots, squash, cumin, salt, pepper, sugar, and 3/4 Tbs of olive oil. Mix together until carrots and squash are evenly coated.
- Place carrots and squash on a baking sheet, leaving room so that the pieces aren't touching. Use two baking sheets, if necessary. Place into oven and roast for 35 minutes, flipping halfway through. Remove from oven and set aside.
- Meanwhile, in a large pot over medium heat, saute onions in 1 Tbs of olive oil until translucent, approximately 8-10 minutes. Add potatoes and celery and continue cooking for another 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently. (I typically add more salt, pepper, and cumin to this mixture as it cooks for added flavor.)
- Add garlic and cook for another 45 seconds to a minute. Add the carrots, squash, and vegetable stock. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low, cover and let simmer for approximately 15 minutes.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Place contents of the pot into a blender. Add cilantro. Blend until you reach the desired consistency. (I find it helpful to add the contents of the pot to the blender with a slotted spoon to get most of the solids in first and then add the broth to the blender as needed to thin the mixture when blended.)
- Serve immediately or seal and refrigerate.
This soup can be served either hot or cold and works equally well as a starter or a meal unto itself. While I used delicata and acorn squash, you can use any combination of squash that you have on hand. If you don't have squash, it can be replaced by simply adding more carrots.
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