Winter Veggie Stew
Apologies for the absence- a couple things have happened in the past month or so, including a wedding (yes, ours) and a honeymoon (also ours!). We are back to cooking and today we are pining for the long, lost seasons! In California everyone raves about the weather, but we miss having actual weather- and four, distinct seasons!
Because the rest of the country is still sort of experiencing what some might call “winter,” we decided to make a stew with seasonal veggies.
This recipe was inspired by a NYT recipe, you can find that here.
We developed our own version that changes up the ratios to make this soup not only heartier and healthier, but also less wasteful. One notable thing we southerners tend to do is try to use every part of the veggies we are cooking with. That’s what we did here. No discarding of vitamin-rich greens, and very little peeling. (It also happens to be less work- yay!)
One caveat for this recipe- you will need a blender or food processor. You will also want some string for your bouquet garni. (Don’t be offput by the fanciful French. It’s just a bunch of yummy herbs for a “broth” base).
Winter Veggie Stew
Ingredients
For the bouquet garni
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 tarragon stalks
- 4 sage stalks
- 3 thyme stalks
- 3 rosemary stalks
- 2 parsley bunches
For the soup body
- 4 carrots
- 2 celery stalks
- 3 leeks
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2 turnips
- 1 pound russet potatoes
- salt and pepper to taste
Optional, to garnish
- 1/4 cup creme fraiche
- french bread
- parmesan cheese
Instructions
Create the bouquet garni
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Wash all the herbs and stack them in a large pile, keeping the bay leaves in the center.
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Tie the herbs together with string. [See pictures below.]
Prepare the vegetables
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Wash, peel, and dice the carrots.
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Wash and dice the celery. You can use the entire stalk for this recipe.
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Wash and clean the leeks thoroughly, slicing all but the yellowy, innermost layers.
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Mince the garlic.
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Clean, peel, and dice the turnips.
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Clean and dice the potatoes.
Assemble soup
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Fill a heavy pot will 4 quarts of water and place over medium heat.
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Add 4 teaspoons each of salt and pepper.
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Add all the vegetables and the bouquet garni.
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Set to simmer for 45 minutes.
Blend.
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Remove bouquet garni.
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Blend soup to desired consistency using an immersion blender or a traditional blender.
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Return to pot and mix in the creme fraiche.
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Serve warm, topped with bread and/or parmesan.
Recipe Notes
You can freeze this soup and it gets even better when you reheat it! Great for meal-preppers, who like to have go-to healthy meals in the freezer for a quick dinner on a busy weeknight!
