Roasted Root Vegetable Bisque

Happy Monday!

I feel like after Friday’s super decadent chocolate kahlua pie business, you might be in the mood for something just a taaaaaaaad healthier today. I love making light veggie soups like this when I am feeling under the weather or stressed. As much as I love creaming butter and sugar, chopping vegetables is almost like therapy for me. A lot of the time I listen to classical music on Pandora while I chop, a habit I picked up in culinary school when one of my chef instructors would blast it while we worked. It annoyed me at the time {classical music? really?} but now I just love it. It’s so soothing…just like this vegetable soup.

I know we all love roasting root vegetables in the fall — it’s just so cozy, right? This soup is a really nice variation. It’s creamy from the added coconut milk, has a touch of sweetness from some maple syrup, and just a touch of spice from poblano chilies and cayenne.

Oh, did I mention it’s vegan, too? Yup.

You start with a big blend of root veggies. My absolute favorites for this soup are sweet potatoes, rutabagas, parsnips and carrots. You could really use whatever you like though. I also added a poblano pepper because I am obsessed with them.

You roast the veggies until extra soft, toasty and caramelized around the edges. It’s 10:30 at night as I type this and I’m getting hungry again just thinking about them!

After roasting the veggies, the actual soup creation couldn’t be easier.

All you do is dump everything right in a blender and whirl away!

No need to stand over the stove for this one… I love it because it’s easy and fast, yet tastes like it took hours to prepare. That’s the secret of all great meals, right?

Serve with big hunks of chewy French bread for the perfect cozy fall meal! Oh, and didn’t you know? Vegetable soup means extra dessert. Perhaps a little grumpy ginger cake? It just seems like the right thing to do.

Roasted Root Vegetable Bisque

serves 4-6

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Ingredients:

1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped into 1″ dice

1 parsnip, peeled and diced

1 rutabaga, peeled and chopped into 1″ dice

2 carrots, peeled and diced

1 poblano chili, seeded and chopped into 1″ strips

1 cup coconut milk

1 quart (4 cups) vegetable stock

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp fresh minced rosemary

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tbsp pure maple syrup

1 tsp fresh minced thyme

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place a piece of tin foil on two cookie sheets and generously spray each with cooking spray. On one cookie sheet, place the diced carrots, parsnips and poblano chile. On the other cookie sheet, place the sweet potato and rutabaga.

Place both cookie sheets in the oven and roast veggies until tender — about 35 minutes. The sheet with the carrots may be done first; be sure to check periodically.

When all veggies have finished roasting, remove from oven and very carefully transfer to a high-speed blender. Add the coconut milk, stock, thyme, rosemary, maple syrup, cayenne pepper and salt. Place the top tight on the blender and process soup until very, very smooth and velvety. If you don’t have a good blender, try either an immersion blender or a food processor. If you have a Vita-Mix, use it for this recipe!

When the soup is smooth, serve immediately or pour into a large pot and re-heat on the stove briefly. Season with additional salt to taste.

Time:

~45 minutes

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Tagged as: gluten-free, vegan