the.recipe

I don't think I've ever truly known the meaning of "Indian Summer" in the way that I've experienced it this year. I know a lot of people are loving it - 80s in October in St. Louis was actually pretty perfect for the outdoor beer festival we went to this weekend - but I'm really itching to break out my winter clothes, and the cozy is totally eluding my autumn.

So in lieu of the fact that it's not yet cold enough to make chili - sad face - I decided to play pretend and make this yummy bowl of happiness.

When other people are hungover from a crazy weekend, they order pizza.

I make soup. It's my favorite food - I know, I'm an odd bird. I also invited this pretty much from scratch, so I'm a little proud of it!

Roasted Winter Vegetable Soup

you need:
1 butternut squash - peeled, cored, and cut into four big pieces
1 sweet potato - unpeeled
1 apple - peeled, cored, and cut into chunks
1 large onion, chopped
4 cups vegetable broth
1 head of garlic - prepped for roasting, excellent instructions on that HERE
1.5 tbsp earth balance, 3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup soy creamer
1/2 cup soy milk
1/4 cup apple cider
dash vegan worcestershire
cumin
3 tsp sage
salt & pepper

step 1: preheat your oven to 425. wrap the sweet potato and apple in aluminum foil and place on roasting pan with prepped garlic. get your hands good and oiled up with 2 tbsp of that olive oil, and rub it all over the squash. then sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a mild smattering of cumin. roast for an hour, or until squash and potato or easily smushed with a fork.
step 2: melt earth balance with the last tbsp of olive oil over medium high heat, and sautee onion and sage for 5 minutes or so, until very soft. add squash, potato (skin on), apple, and roasted garlic (squish out the garlic from the cloves), and sautee for another 2 or 3 minutes. add vegetable broth, apple cider, a few dashes of worcestershire, and a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper. lower heat to medium low and simmer for 23 minutes, tasting at 5 minute intervals to test for seasoning (i.e. more sage, salt, or pepper.)
step 3: add soy milk and soy creamer and stir, taste for seasoning. let simmer 2 more minutes.
step 4: puree soup in batches in a blender, food processor, or with an immersion blender. a blender will make a very smooth, creamy soup, a food processor a slightly chunker soup, and an immersion blender will really do whatever you want! then serve ad enjoy!

"Maybe if they all could be combined - art, rock and fashion. Those were always my favorite things."-Stephen Sprouse