LA Times Winter Vegetable Soup - Veganized!

I saw this recipe for winter vegetable soup in the LA Times a few weeks ago. It was one of those SOS cry for helps to please find/recreate so-and-so restaurant's recipe. Creamy winter vegetable soup sounded like the perfect pairing to the rainy weather we've been getting blessed with in Southern California. I have not worked with root vegetables too much and I think the labels were off at the grocery store so I ended up with a rutabaga instead of celery root. The parsnips smelled like root beer when I was cutting them. I later caught my brother secretly gnawing on a root. He told me it made a good palate cleanser.

Horrible attempt at food blogger still life shot

The only roadblock is that I am following Greek Orthodox lenten fast which means no bleeding animal products so I tweaked the recipe in two ways:
1 quart chicken brother (substituted vegetable broth)
1 cup cream (substituted soy half and half)
In all honesty, it would have been much, much better with the cream. I am getting sick of this soy milk nonsense, but I have less than a month to go. Additionally, I am no baller food blogger and my pantry is not stocked with truffle oil. I do have imported Austrian pumpkin seed oil and of course, the liquid gold Greek olive oil which I used as a garnish. Sauteed mushrooms would have been nice also, if I had those.

Winter Vegetable Soup

Servings: 6 to 8

2 cups sliced leeks, white part only, cleaned and sliced into 1/4 -inch strips (from about 3 whole)

1/4 cup ( 1/2 stick) butter

2 sprigs thyme

2 bay leaves

4 1/2 cups diced boiling potatoes (from a scant 2 pounds), peeled and diced into 1/4 -inch cubes

1 1/2 cups diced parsnips (3 to 4 whole), peeled and diced into 1/4 -inch cubes

1 celery root (about 1 pound), peeled and diced into 1/4 -inch cubes

1 quart chicken broth, more as desired

Salt and white pepper

1 cup heavy cream

White truffle oil

1. In a medium heavy-bottom soup pot heated over medium-high heat, saute the leeks in the butter until tender, 3 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently, and being careful not to burn the butter. Stir in the thyme and bay leaves and continue to cook until aromatic, about 1 minute.

2. Stir in the potatoes, parsnips, celery root and broth and bring the mixture to a good simmer. Season with one-half teaspoon salt and a pinch of pepper, or to taste. Cook until the parsnips begin to become tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and stir in the cream. Continue to cook until all of the vegetables are tender, an additional 5 to 10 minutes. Remove and discard the thyme sprigs and bay leaves.

3. Purée the soup until smooth using a blender or immersion blender. Strain the soup through a fine mesh strainer and season as desired with additional salt and pepper. Add the truffle oil, a few drops at a time, to taste.

4. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve immediately.

With Austrian pumpkin seed oil. Olive oil is better!

I saw this recipe for winter vegetable soup in the LA Times a few weeks ago. It was one of those SOS cry for helps to please find/recreate so-and-so restaurant's recipe. Creamy winter vegetable soup sounded like the perfect pairing to the rainy weather we've been getting blessed with in Southern California. I have not worked with root vegetables too much and I think the labels were off at the grocery store so I ended up with a rutabaga instead of celery root. The parsnips smelled like root beer when I was cutting them. I later caught my brother secretly gnawing on a root. He told me it made a good palate cleanser.

Horrible attempt at food blogger still life shot

The only roadblock is that I am following Greek Orthodox lenten fast which means no bleeding animal products so I tweaked the recipe in two ways:
1 quart chicken brother (substituted vegetable broth)
1 cup cream (substituted soy half and half)
In all honesty, it would have been much, much better with the cream. I am getting sick of this soy milk nonsense, but I have less than a month to go. Additionally, I am no baller food blogger and my pantry is not stocked with truffle oil. I do have imported Austrian pumpkin seed oil and of course, the liquid gold Greek olive oil which I used as a garnish. Sauteed mushrooms would have been nice also, if I had those.

Winter Vegetable Soup

Servings: 6 to 8

2 cups sliced leeks, white part only, cleaned and sliced into 1/4 -inch strips (from about 3 whole)

1/4 cup ( 1/2 stick) butter

2 sprigs thyme

2 bay leaves

4 1/2 cups diced boiling potatoes (from a scant 2 pounds), peeled and diced into 1/4 -inch cubes

1 1/2 cups diced parsnips (3 to 4 whole), peeled and diced into 1/4 -inch cubes

1 celery root (about 1 pound), peeled and diced into 1/4 -inch cubes

1 quart chicken broth, more as desired

Salt and white pepper

1 cup heavy cream

White truffle oil

1. In a medium heavy-bottom soup pot heated over medium-high heat, saute the leeks in the butter until tender, 3 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently, and being careful not to burn the butter. Stir in the thyme and bay leaves and continue to cook until aromatic, about 1 minute.

2. Stir in the potatoes, parsnips, celery root and broth and bring the mixture to a good simmer. Season with one-half teaspoon salt and a pinch of pepper, or to taste. Cook until the parsnips begin to become tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and stir in the cream. Continue to cook until all of the vegetables are tender, an additional 5 to 10 minutes. Remove and discard the thyme sprigs and bay leaves.

3. Purée the soup until smooth using a blender or immersion blender. Strain the soup through a fine mesh strainer and season as desired with additional salt and pepper. Add the truffle oil, a few drops at a time, to taste.

4. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve immediately.

With Austrian pumpkin seed oil. Olive oil is better!