While January is National Soup Month, I don’t know about you, but I don’t need a special reason to eat soup in the winter. After a day of playing outside on the mountain or in the park, we like to return home, fingers and toes chilled, to a cozy house and a warm bowl of soup.
In our house, this soup is simply called Yellow Soup. It’s our son’s favourite soup. In fact, it’s the only soup he’ll eat. It has to be orange or yellow. It has to have a smooth consistency. But thankfully it’s tasty and simple to make, and best of all it’s forgiving.
Great-tasting root vegetables like squash, carrots, onions and sweet potatoes pack in the nutrition.
Pull a pile of yellow and orange vegetables out of your pantry. Find or make some chicken or vegetable stock. Add some thyme. Whirr it up in a blender. Stir in a cup of delicious cream and a dash of lemon and you’re rewarded with a naturally sweet, sunshine-bright, warming bowl of soup. Play around with the amount of vegetables-to-stock ratio to get the thickness you most desire. I’ve suggested the amounts that work for our family’s taste.
Butternut Thyme Cream Soup
A warming bowl of sunshine.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil or butter
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 8-10 cups mixed orange or yellow vegetables, chopped. My go-to veggies are 1 medium butternut squash (or acorn), 2 medium yams or sweet potatoes, 3-4 large carrots, and a parsnip if I happen to have. Zucchini would also work.
- 7-8 cups chicken or vegetable stock
- 1-2 tsp dried thyme I like a strong thyme flavour, so I use 2 tsp.
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 cup half and half or whipping cream Sometimes I just use whole milk, depending on what I have in the fridge. It’s not as creamy, but it works
Instructions
-
Heat a stockpot over medium heat then add the butter or olive oil. Once the butter has melted, add the onion and cook until lightly coloured, about 10-12 minutes.
-
Add all remaining vegetables, stock and thyme. Bring to a boil, then simmer until vegetables are very tender, about 30 minutes. Make sure the carrots are cooked.
-
To puree, use either a hand-held immersion blender in the pot, or transfer the everything over to a blender.
-
Blend until smooth, or leave chunky if you prefer.
-
Add the lemon juice, cream, and season to taste.
-
Serve! I find this soup is best fresh. I have frozen it, and it does work, but the consistency changes once thawed.