Root Vegetable and Roasted Poblano Corn Chowder

From the Blog archive: A Winter of Soups, A Parsnip Infatuation, and Heartbreak

ROOT VEGETABLE AND ROASTED POBLANO CORN CHOWDER

Wintertime brings us plentiful root vegetables and soup makes the perfect showcase for these grounding, earthy vegetables. Roasted Poblano combines well and adds depth and layers to each spoonful. This soup is not as complicated as it looks I promise! Just follow the steps and you will be rewarded with a tasty, yet multifaceted soup.

Saute in medium saucepan the following peeled vegetables for 5-7 minutes:

1 cup diced celery root 

2 medium sized parsnips diced

2 medium sized carrots diced

1 lg. russet potato diced

1 sm. sweet potato or yam

1/2 leek chopped

2 cloves garlic minced

3 Tbsp virgin sunflower or olive oil

Add the following to vegetable mixture:

1.5 quarts filtered water* 

1Tbsp thyme

1Tbsp sage

1 cube good quality vegetable bouillon**

Bring soup to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Let simmer for an hour stirring occasionally.

The next step is to puree 1/2 of the soup in a blender, leaving the other half in the soup pot as is (chunky for the chowder). Add soup puree back into the soup pot.

Add:

2 ears sweet corn shucked off of cob

2 chopped roasted poblanos***

1-2 Tbsp sea salt, more or less to taste

fresh ground black pepper to taste

Let soup simmer for another 30 minutes so flavors can assimilate. Take off heat and serve.

Optional:

My good friend taught me to use miso as a way to enrich the flavor of certain soups. After soup cools slightly and is off heat (so not to kill the beneficial enzymes of miso) a slurry of 2-4 Tbsp miso mixed with warm water can be added to the soup. If this is done, reduce the amount of sea salt added before in previous step. Miso is incredibly healthy and adds a 

natural saltiness while deepening the soups' flavor.

*I choose to use filtered water in all of my soups and in all of my cooking. It is easy to refill a jug at ones' local grocery stores' water filtration station. Tap water is full of chemicals, chlorine, heavy metals  and  other toxins, which are ingredients I don't want in my food.

**Make sure to read all labels when searching for a good vegetable bouillon option. MSG and many other funky, unhealthful ingredients lurk in stock bases. As usual, health food stores usually carry the best option for purchase. I like the Rapunzel brand.

***See my blog Preparation and Roasting of Peppers for how to instructions