Sweet Potato and Parsnip Soup

    Has anyone else noticed that the most popular posts on my blog right now (featured on the left hand side) are all orange?  It must be the season.  Here is another orange dish to add to the list.  This week I turned to my shelf of cookbooks for a recipe to make for lunch this week.  I had some sweet potatoes so I decided on this recipe for Sweet Potato and Parsnip Soup from my book called 400 Soups.  I've never had a parsnip before, let alone cook with them.  I'm excited to see how this soup pans out.

Sweet Potato and Parsnip Soup

Ingredients
1 tbsp grape seed oil
1 large leek, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 1/2 cups parsnips, peeled and chopped
1 lb of sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
3 3/4 cups vegetable stock
salt and pepper to taste

Method
1. Heat the oil in a large pot, over medium heat.  Add the leek, celery, parsnips, and sweet potato.  Stir and cook for about 5 minutes.
2. Add the vegetable stock and bring the mixture to a boil.  Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 20-25 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.
3. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup. 
4. You can roast strips of parsnip and sweet potato, drizzled with olive oil to garnish this soup.  I skipped this step!

The Taste Test
    Creamy, simple, and delicious.