Beet and Carrot Soup

Even though my goal is to find vegetarian friendly restaurants, I really prefer eating at home. When I cook for myself, I know exactly what is in each dish, and there is no worrying whether the rice was cooked in chicken broth or if the grill was cleaned between meat and veggies. When dining out, I usually have to accept that these and other transgressions may happen despite what the restaurant claims. Since I’m a pescetarian for health and environmental reasons, I let these things go, even though I would never cook that way at home, and the only meat in the house is my husband’s lunch meat.

I love fresh veggies, and I love making soups. So, I picked up some yummy looking carrots and beets at the Pearl Farmer’s market this past weekend for a winter veggie soup. Check it out!

Ingredients:

3 medium beets
5 small-medium carrots
Olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
Fresh ginger root
About ½ cup leftover potato fondue (or mashed potatoes)
Vegetable broth
Plain yogurt

Start by roasting your vegetables: wash and peel carrots and cut lengthwise. If they are super thick - like my short, stubby ones - then cut them once more lengthwise. Cut the stems off of the beets and scrub away. Save the greens, you can use them as salad greens or use them in place of collard greens in a recipe. 

Place both on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil and drizzle with olive oil (I used about 1 tbs for all the veggies) and salt and pepper to taste. Fold aluminum foil over beets like so:

Roast in oven at 400 degrees until tender (about 20-25 min for carrots and 60 min for beets). Old beets will take longer.

Meanwhile, heat a little oil in a large saucepan (or a dutch oven would be even better, if you have one). Cook onion in pan until translucent. Stir in ginger for 1 minute. Then add beets, carrots, potato goop, and enough broth to cover veggies. Cook up to another 5 minutes to let the flavors blend.

Using an immersion blender, puree soup. Or, if you want to torture yourself, you can transfer the soup 1 cup at a time to a blender.

Ladle into soup bowls and scoop plain yogurt on top to taste. The dark red color makes this perfect for a Valentines dinner. Enjoy!