Yellow Beet & Turnip Soup
One obvious reason to make root vegetable soup, besides it being so good for you, is that it lends itself to a luscious creaminess without necessitating the addition of cream or butter. Always in the mood for soup, I improvised this one by using some golden beets and turnips I had on hand, and adding a few more ingredients of similar color. The soup was so velvety rich that the toasted bread crouton pretty much floated on it briefly. Here’s my easy recipe.
Ingredients:
3 medium golden beets
3 medium turnips
one 11-oz can golden sweet corn
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup sweet orange pepper sauce* (optional)
1/4 tsp each of the following powder herbs/spices: ground star anise, cumin powder, coriander powder, ginger (powder or minced), turmeric
3 cups chicken stock
Salt & white pepper
toasted slices of baguette
jalapeño slices and/or coriander or parsley leaves for garnish
* I happened to have about 1/4 cup left over orange pepper sauce which I added to the soup. It had been made by roasting several peppers, removing the blistered skin, processing the flesh in a blender, and straining it through a sieve.
Method:
Boil beets and turnips, let cool, then peel and cube. Transfer cubed tubers to blender, add the corn and milk and pulse until puréed. Add all the powder herbs and orange pepper sauce, if using, and continue to blend.
Place a chinois, or other fine mesh strainer, over a bowl and using a silicone spatula, push the blended vegetable mixture through the strainer. Discard the pulp in the strainer. (If you prefer a coarser textured soup, skip the straining step). Pour the smooth liquid that’s been strained (or the mixture from the blender, if not straining) into a saucepan, and heat over a medium flame. Begin adding the chicken stock, stirring well to blend and reducing for about 20-30 minutes. Season with salt and white pepper, garnish with jalapeño slices or chopped herbs, and serve while piping hot with a toasted slice of baguette.
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