I’ll be honest, I’m not a huge fan of winter.
It’s dark when I come to work, it’s dark when I leave work. My face hurts.
Why would anyone choose to live somewhere that makes your face hurt four months of the year?
However, I am actively working on being more positive about the cold and snow.
But it’s only sorta working.
So far my efforts to find good things about winter have come up with the following:
* Fireplaces
* My kids’ cold, rosy cheeks
* Anything with mint and chocolate in it
* When you go for a walk in the woods and you stop for a moment and it’s totally quiet and you can actually hear the snow falling
* Flannel, fleece and cashmere
* “Mom! Come look at the snowman we made!!”
* Red wine in a ridiculously huge glass
* Snowy dog faces
* Chili and crusty bread
* Very small oranges
* Cozy sweaters
* Hot chocolate
* Slathering on heavenly-smelling body butters
* Soup
* Squash, sweet potatoes and parsnips
That’s actually some pretty good stuff. And, in honour of the last two items, I came up with this new recipe last weekend and it’s definitely making my winter a little more bearable. I hope it warms you up too!
Roasted Butternut Squash, Sweet Potato and Parsnip Soup
Cook Time: 40 min
Keywords: soup/stew dairy-free gluten-free grain-free paleo vegan vegetarian butternut squash sweet potato parsnip
Ingredients (serves 6)
- 1/2 butternut squash, seeds removed, peeled and cut into large chunks
- 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into large chunks
- 3 medium parsnips, peeled and cut into large chunks
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup raw, unsalted cashews
- 8 cups vegetable soup stock
- 3/4 tsp salt (divided)
- 1/2 tsp thyme (fresh,chopped or dried)
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
Instructions
In a small bowl, combine the cashews with 1 cup of filtered water and set aside.
In a large bowl, toss all the chopped vegetables in the olive oil and 1/4 tsp of the salt.
Spread vegetables on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper.
Roast vegetables at 400 degrees for 20 min.
Drain cashews.
In a blender, combine half the roasted vegetables, half the soaked cashews and 3 cups of soup stock.
Blend until smooth then transfer to a large pot on the stove top over medium heat.
Combine the other half of the vegetables, cashews and 3 more cups of the soup stock in the blender.
Blend until smooth and then add to the pot on the stove top.
Add the remaining 2 cups of soup stock to the pot along with the rest of the salt, thyme and pepper.
Warm through and continue to season to taste.
