The many fresh vegetables from roots to greens that are available in the marketplace play a large part in the making of this soup. You can replace any of the vegetables with something you have on hand or like better. This makes a lot of soup but it keeps for five days and freezes well. If you are making ahead, it is better to boil the orzo separately and stir it into the soup when reheating. Otherwise it absorbs too much liquid as it sits.
Fall Vegetable Soup
1 tbsp (15 mL) olive oil
1 cup (250 mL) diced onion
1 cup (250 mL) diced leeks,white and light green part only
1 cup (250 mL) diced turnips
1 cup (250 mL) diced sweet potatoes
1 cup (250 mL) diced carrots
1 tbsp (15 mL) chopped garlic
6 cups (1.5 L) chicken stock
2 tsp (10 mL) maple syrup
1 tsp (5 mL) chopped fresh thyme
� cup (125 mL) orzo
1 cup (250 mL) diced zucchini
1 tsp (5 mL) Sriracha or other Asian hot sauce
3 cups (750 mL) baby spinach
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and leeks and saut� until coated with oil, about 2 minutes. Add turnips, sweet potato, carrots and garlic and continue to cook, stirring, for about 3 minutes or until vegetables are beginning to soften.
2 Add stock, maple syrup and thyme and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes then add orzo and simmer for 5 minutes longer. Add zucchini and hot sauce and simmer for 10 minutes or until vegetables and orzo are tender.
3 Add spinach and cook for 2 minutes longer or until spinach is wilted. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serves 6 to 8
For many of us, racing season has now come to an end and as we rest, re group and set some new goals for next year it seems many little 'niggles' seem to present themselves. I call them niggles as they're not yet plaguing us in the form of anything serious like an injury, but they're there...a little tightness here, a little stiffness there...but I know well enough that those niggles if not tended to will become much more down the road. I like to look at the next couple of months, the last couple of months of the year as restoration season - time to tend to things we may have let slip during 'high mileage' season.
