Roasted Autumn Vegetable Soup - "Get your Orange on"

Our featured recipe for today, prepared by Judy as it is her week to cook, was chosen as a result of two seemingly unrelated phenomenon coming together in a sort of "perfect storm". First, the weather here in Northern California changed from late summer to early winter overnight. It got really wet and chilly today. And secondly, the San Francisco Giants are playing the Phillies in the Major League Divisional Championship Series. As lifelong Giants fans we needed to "Get our Orange on!", and we needed some comfort food to warm us up for the game.

The perfect solution to this perfect storm is our featured recipe, Roasted Autumn Vegetable Soup. It has that "Stick to your ribs" heartiness that, in my mind, is a requirement of any really good comfort food.  It was delicious. And, most importantly it was orange.  It remains to be seen as to whether or not it will help the Giants win the game.  It's still in the 3rd inning, and the Giants are down by one run.

Whether or not the Giants win, you will find a real winner in this recipe.

Roasted Autumn Vegetable Soup

Ingredients

1 large onion, cut into large chunks
4 large carrots, peeled and cut into large pieces
6 medium parsnips, peeled and cut into large pieces
4 cups winter squash, such as butternut, peeled and cubed. (Trader Joe's has pre-cut butternut squash)
2 sprays cooking spray
3 cups fat-free chicken broth
1/2 cup fat-free evaporated milk
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste ( we added another 1/2 tsp for our taste ) It's easier to add salt a little bit at a time than to take it out.
1/2 tsp black pepper, or to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400F. In a large roasting pan combine onion, carrots, parsnips and squash, coat with cooking spray and roast for 30 minutes.

Place vegetables in a large pot. Add broth and milk. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Cook over medium-high heat for 10 minutes to allow the flavors to marry.

Puree soup in pot until smooth, using an immersion blender. Or, transfer to blender or food processor (in batches if necessary).

Yields about 1 & 1/2 cups per serving. weight Watchers PointsPlus value per serving is 4.  Makes 8 servings. Prep time is 25 minutes. Cooking time is 40 minutes. Level of difficulty is Easy.

Notes:

Judy and I like things "Spicy". So it wouldn't surprise me if she added about 2 shakes of Red Pepper Flakes to the mixture.

Roasting the vegetables helps bring out their natural sweetness

You can add a little more water or broth to the pureed soup to achieve desired thickness.

Course: Soup

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Photo by Barry Baruh