Homemade Fall Veggie Soup, also known as....

My little one cannot knock his cold. Housebound the past four days, we'd eaten through the fabulous lasagna, meatballs and lentil soup I had stored in the freezer. But today there were slim pickings so we went to the market. I popped various veggies into the cart, deciding that I'd make a colorful soup. Maybe this comforting soup will make him healthy. You can make soup with any of your favorite veggies, so add or omit to make a soup you and your family will enjoy...

Fall Veggie Soup

(will make a giant pot, enough to share with a friend or freeze)

1 butternut squash (as you see above, I bought this already chopped)

2-3 parsnips, peeled and chopped

4-5 carrots, washed and chopped

1-2 onions, chopped

6 or so pieces of celery, chopped

2 zucchinis, chopped

1 head of cauliflower, chopped

1 celery root (the gnarly thing up there in the right corner), peeled and chopped

olive oil

kosher salt

2 32 oz containers veggie stock (I used Kitchen Basics brand today)

alphabet shaped pasta (optional)

To get a nice, deep flavor, I put chopped veggies on cookie sheets, drizzled a bit of olive oil over them, sprinkled on a bit of kosher salt and roasted them in a 375 degree oven until just about tender (20 minutes or so). Then I tossed all of the roasted veggies in a big stock pot with both cartons of vegetable stock and let the soup simmer over medium-low heat until the vegetables were tender. 8 minutes before serving, I tossed the alphabet pasta in (my three-year-old's request...making the vegetable soup "exciting").

Here is the recipe in photos...

One baking sheet of "orange" veggies had a single layer of carrots, parsnips, and butternut squash. The other baking sheet of "green veggies" had the onions, celery, zucchini and celery root. (While one sheet turned out green and the other orange, it wasn't about color as much as it was combining veggies that would have about the same cook time.) Drizzled them with a bit of olive oil and a sprinkling of kosher salt...

The "orange" sheet of veggies went into the oven first, along with my new favorite frozen pizza (in case my kids didn't last until the soup was ready). Once the pizza came out, the green sheet of veggies went in. (Both sheets of veggies spent a total time of about 20 minutes roasting...)

When both sheets of veggies were just about tender,

all of the vegetables were tossed into a big stock pot.

Two cartons of vegetable stock were added, and I let the soup simmer over medium-low heat while I helped my seven-year-old with his reading homework, went through the mail and checked my email.

Just before serving the soup, I let my little one toss in a half box or so of alphabet pasta, thus upping the excitement level of tonight's dinner.

And there it is, so easy. Rich with the taste of all of those vegetables. I let them name the soup (OK, fine, it was a distraction tactic: they get to toss a name idea out after each bite. And yes, it made the soup go down the little hatches in no time.) The winning name: Orange Pumpkin Alphabet Soup Even Though There's No Pumpkin In It.