Root Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon butter or vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

1 tablespoon minced garlic

3 tablespoons minced fresh ginger - (to 4 tbspns)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 medium rutabaga -- peeled, diced

2 small turnips -- peeled, diced

1 medium sweet potato or yam -- peeled, diced

2 medium potatoes -- peeled, diced

1 parsnip - (abt 8") -- peeled, diced

2 large carrots -- peeled, diced

6 cups water

1 cinnamon stick

Grated fresh horseradish
Toast -- (optional)
Red Onion And Shallot Marmalade -- (see recipe)

Melt the butter or heat the oil in a soup pot or Dutch oven. 

Add the onion, garlic, ginger and 1/2 teaspoon salt; saute over low heat for about 10 minutes. 

Stir in remaining vegetables and another teaspoon of salt. 

Cover and cook over medium heat for 10 more minutes.

Add the water and the cinnamon stick. 

Bring to a boil, then turn the heat way down. 

Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. 

Remove the cinnamon stick, cover again, and continue to simmer for about 5 more minutes, or until the vegetables are completely tender.

Place about a quarter of the vegetables and some of their cooking liquid in a food processor or blender, and process briefly to thicken (but not necessarily to puree) the soup. 

Return the processed batch to the rest of the soup, and stir it in. 

This treatment gives the soup a delightful, varied texture.

Serve hot, with a very light sprinkling of grated fresh horseradish on top (go easy), and slices of crisp toast spread thickly with Red Onion And Shallot Marmalade on the side, if desired. 

This soup freezes if stored in an airtight container.

This recipe yields 6 to 8 servings.

Comments: Instead of peeling the vegetables, you can scrub them with a good stiff brush.

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