Autumn Vegetable Soup Recipe

I've signed up to receive vegetables through the winter via my local farmer's market, so this week I decided to get in gear by trying to rustle up a soup made mainly of the kinds of ingredients I'll still be getting in midwinter. It turned out very well, and Jonathan ate it all up two days running, which around this household is considered a victory indeed.

One point: I'm not fond of gadgetry in general, but I once had a roommate who owned a Braun immersion blender, and I missed it after we went our separate ways. Lately I've been looking at them, and found them too expensive to justify getting one; however, I spotted one in fine working order for $6 at the local thrift store. After a thorough cleaning, I'm delighted with it, and it makes all the difference with the texture of a soup like this one. Some people advocate transferring the hot soup to a blender in batches,but I find this too fussy. If you don't have an immersion blender, you can get a nice (though chunkier) texture with a potato masher.

Also, you could use a whole squash and a whole cauliflower, but we had already eaten parts of ours, so I have faithfully transcribed what actually went into the soup I made.

• Olive oil
• 2 carrots, 2 shallots, 2 stalks of celery, all chopped very fine
• ¾ head of cauliflower, ¾ butternut squash, 2 sweet potatoes, all roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp each of dried sage, thyme and oregano 
• 2 tiny dried Thai chilis, sliced in half
• 8 cups of homemade or store-bought chicken or vegetable broth
• Salt to taste (not needed if you use commercial broth)
• (optional) black pepper, chopped chives, sour cream, yogurt and/or grated cheese for garnish

1. Cover the bottom of a good-sized soup pot with olive oil.
2. Over a medium flame, toss in the carrots, shallots and celery (that'd be a mirepoix) and sizzle them, stirring occasionally, until the shallots are just starting to brown slightly.
3. Toss in the dried  herbs and the chilis, and stir to wake them up.
4. Add the broth, stir and bring to a rolling boil. Turn down heat and boil very gently, partly covered, until the vegetables are soft. Use an immersion blender to purée the mixture.
5. Serve hot with a garnish of your choice.

It would be easy to vary this soup according to the ingredients at hand. For instance, you could use onions instead of shallots, potatoes instead of sweet potatoes, or plain water instead of broth. Whatever the specifics, I'm feeling one step closer to being ready for winter.