Warm Up Your Winter with a Spicy Roots Soup
By Kristen DeAngelis
Living in Chicago has been COLD this winter. The negative temperatures have sent me home at the end of the day looking to warm up with a comforting meal. Stick to your healthy resolutions with this fabulous meatless meal to add some spice and kick to your week. As a base, using seasonal root vegetables will help boost your vitamin K, C and potassium intake to fight infection and combat the winter season. Not to mention curry and turmeric spice provides additional cancer-fighting and anti-inflammatory properties. If you’re brave, add the jalapeno and I am sure that you will be feeling warm again in no time! I love the snow, but I do fear the negative temperatures are getting the best of me. Hope you enjoy this as much as I did!
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1-2 tbsp curry
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 4 inch (10 cm) ginger, peel outside, then grate flesh
- 3 tbsp fresh sage, chop into smaller pieces
- crushed pepper, to taste
- 5 cloves garlic, chopped and diced
- 1 large sweet onion, diced
- 1 leek, chopped
- 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed
- 2 large parsnips, peeled and chopped
- 5 large carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1/4 jalapeño, diced (optional)
- 3-4 cups (800 ml – 1 L) low sodium vegetable broth
- 2-3 cups (500 – 650 ml) water
- 1 cup (250 ml) unsweetened almond milk
- 1 small handful of pumpkin seeds, for garnish (optional)
- cilantro (coriander), for garnish (optional)
Directions
- Heat olive oil in heavy pot over medium heat. Sauté onion, leek and garlic until softened about 5 minutes.
- Add cubed/chopped sweet potato, parsnips, carrots, and jalapeño.
- Add liquids (vegetable broth, water, almond milk and simmer until potato, parsnip, and carrots are soft (your fork should be able to easily pierce through).
- Transfer to a blender in batches and puree or use a hand immersion blender.
- Garnish with pumpkin seeds and cilantro if desired.
Servings: 6
Serving Size: 2 cups
Calories: 250
Fat: 13g
Trans Fat: 2g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 190mg
Carbohydrates: 29g
Fiber: 7g
Sugars: 10g
Protein: 6g