YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: October Soup

I was looking back through old posts, and discovered this one from 2011, eleven years and almost 1000 posts ago. Though I do not remember who gave me this recipe, I do know that it came from someone I was working with at the time.*

I arrived home from work one particular evening to find my daughter frying onions, and I asked her what’s for dinner. “I don’t know,” she said, “this is as far as I’ve gotten.” Her amusing reply put me in mind of a guy named Jeff whom I had met many years prior. He became famous in our family, and remains there to this day, because of something he used to say: “First I fry the onions and garlic, and then I decide what to make for dinner.” And that is what my daughter was doing.

Here, on that particular day, is what we decided to make with those onions:

2 tsp. olive oil
2 medium-sized yellow onions, peeled and diced
3 medium-large beets, washed, trimmed, and peeled
3 medium to large carrots, washed, trimmed, and peeled
1 medium turnip, washed and trimmed
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
Optional spices for sprinkling on top: tumeric, cumin, hot paprika, rosemary

#1 Fry 2 medium diced onions in olive oil in a soup pot until brown and crispy at the edges.
#2 Peel 3 beets, 3 carrots, 2 sweet potatoes and 1 turnip. Cut vegetables into several large chunks each, and add to the soup pot.
#3 Cover the vegetables just barely with water or stock, and boil 25-30 minutes until the vegetables are soft. If you have to step away and the vegetables end up cooking longer, that’s okay.
#4 Scoop the vegetables into a food processor or Vitamix, and swirl until smooth. Leave the stock in the pot. If you have one, you could also use a stick blender to accomplish this step.
#5 Return the pureed root vegetables to the soup pot, and add the thyme, salt, and pepper. Mix well, and serve with a small drizzle of olive oil in the center of each bowl.
The soup came out heavenly. The color was divine, and the flavor — both sweet and earthy at once — a celebration of the autumn season. We placed tiny dishes of turmeric, cumin, hot paprika, and rosemary on the table for everyone to choose from, and they were terrific in all the different combinations.
Enjoy and bon appétit!
*If you are reading this, and you recognize the recipe, please send a note in the comments below so I can give credit!

2 thoughts on “YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: October Soup

  1. This soup was incredibly silky! Beautiful color, too. I added a 1/2 cup of canned pumpkin just because I had it in the fridge.
    Suggestion: use your biggest soup pot if you’re going to use an immersion blender, otherwise you will have beet-red splatters all over your kitchen!


    • I’m so glad you liked it!
      and thank you for the tip — I always keep the immersion blender deep in the liquid, but I can see how this would be a better strategy!


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