Roasted Root Vegetable Soup with Fried Sage Leaves

I’m trying to make the best of the fact that it’s still wintery here in Kansas. Whenever it gets to this time of year and spring is so close I can almost taste it, I start to LOSE MA MIND. I don’t want to be a negative Nancy over here, but I freaking hate cold weather. Winter itself has some nice perks: Christmas, coziness, and cold weather food, but the cold weather itself makes me want to curl into a ball next to my fireplace and never leave.

Cold weather hurts…hot weather can get uncomfortable, but cold weather HURTS, man!!! It hurts my skin. I’m aware I’m acting like a big baby, but just…let me have this…okay?

Anyway, I am trying to cope with these last dwindling weeks of cold weather before warm weather FINALLY gets here (PRAISE THE LORT) by making warm, comforting, cold weather food. Because that is one thing that I do love about winter. Fall and winter food just feels like a warm, cozy hug. A food hug.

THIS soup…this soup is the ultimate food hug. And – bonus! – it’s super healthy and clean. Just a bunch of veggies + a few extras. But the taste…warm, complex, and so, so, so comforting. This is something I’ll miss when warm weather comes back around and it isn’t quite as satisfying to cuddle up to a steaming bowl of soup while the fire crackles behind your back.

I will try and cherish that memory versus the ones where I am clutching my coat around my body as I beeline it ASAP to the front of the grocery store while the wind burns the bajeezus out of my face. 😡 << Feelings about that.

Let’s talk details. We take the title “root vegetable soup” very seriously here…we’ve got a bunch of different root veggies that get nice and roasty-toasty in the oven before simmering in some chicken stock and being pureed into thick, velvety goodness. The players:

• Carrots
• Turnip
• Sweet potato
• Fennel
• Celery root

Those root veggies are the ones that roast in the oven, and then we saute some shallot and garlic (also root vegetables) in our soup pot before adding the roasted veggies and chicken stock (or veggie stock) in. When the veggies are nice and tender, we wield our magical immersion blender and puree it all together. And then we add a few magic ingredients…

1. Olive oil. We puree 1/4 cup of olive oil into the soup, which, when blended, emulsifies and makes everything impossibly smooth, velvety, and almost creamy.
2. Apple cider vinegar. Not much – less than 2 tablespoons, but it adds a touch of needed brightness to an otherwise heavy soup.
3. Nutmeg. This adds another touch of cozy warmth to this hug of a soup ❤.
4. Fried sage leaves. These are optional, but they add a fun element to the soup and more depth and earthiness to the end flavor.

This soup is WINTER GOALS, yo.

Can we talk about something else extremely cozy and comforting that is also especially wonderful when it’s cold outside? To help me further cope with the lingering winter? Baths. Baths…are…literally…the BEST THINGS EVER. It has become an obsession of mine since Ford was born. I treasure the pure relaxation so much more now that I have a baby.

Baths are my love language.

Baths are my passion.

I’m being dramatic, but I actually really do love them more than life. Last weekend, while we were at Target, Seth branched off for a bit and bought this fancy, AMAZING smelling bubble bath and a bag of little bath bombs for me and then sent me off to take a bath when we got home. Let me set the scene for ya…dim bathroom lights, calming music playing, the most amazing smelling bath you’ve ever experienced in your life…and that was my evening.

I’m going to marry him all over again.

I also really like reading while I’m in the bath, and I got a new book recently called Big Little Lies. I’m about half way through it, and it’s great so far. Pretty sure things are ’bout to get cray. I also found out that they made it into a series on HBO, so I’m super pumped to finish it and then watch the show!

Man, this has been such an ADD post. To sum it all up: cold weather is the bane of my existence, this soup helps, so do baths, my husband rocks, and my new book is good…the end.

Have the best weekend!

Roasted Root Vegetable Soup with Fried Sage Leaves

★★★★

4 from 1 reviews

Paleo and Whole 30 approved!

• Author: Annie Chesson
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins
• Total Time: 1 hour
• Yield: 5 servings 1x

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 3 carrots, peeled and diced*
• 1 turnip, peeled and diced*
• 1 sweet potato, peeled and diced*
• 1 bulb of fennel, green tops removed, cored, and sliced*
• 1 celery root (celery and celery root are two different things), peeled and diced*
• 1/2 teaspoon ground sage
• 1/2 teaspoon ground thyme
• 1 shallot, peeled and minced
• 3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
• 4 cups Whole 30 compliant chicken stock (32 oz), use veggie stock if vegetarian or vegan
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 bunch sage leaves (10–15 leaves)
• Olive oil for frying sage leaves

Instructions

For the soup

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Place all veggies on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Add your ground sage and thyme to the veggies and toss until the oil and seasonings are evenly distributed
3. Roast for 30 minutes, tossing with a spatula half way through
4. When the veggies are almost done roasting, add your shallot and garlic to a soup pot with a drizzle of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and cook until softened
5. Add your roasted veggies and chicken stock to the pot with the shallots and garlic and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook until the veggies have completely cooked through and are tender when pierced with a knife (this will depend on the dice size of your veggies, but it will probably be between 10-20 minutes)
6. When the veggies are tender, puree the soup with an immersion blender (stick blender) until totally smooth.* Add your olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and nutmeg, and blend again with your immersion blender for 5-10 seconds. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

For the fried sage leaves (optional garnish)

1. Heat a thin layer of olive oil (at most 1/4 inch) in the bottom of a small pot or skillet
2. When hot, add your sage leaves. Fry until they have begun to turn a dark, deep green and almost get a golden brown hue.
3. Remove and let drain over paper towels. They will crisp up more as they cool

To assemble

1. Ladle soup into bowls and top with black pepper, a few fried sage leaves, and you’re good to go!

Notes

*The exact dice size of your veggies doesn’t matter, but try and get them to be about the same size so the cook time is similar. Mine were about a half inch dice.

*You can use a traditional blender or food processor to puree your soup if you don’t have an immersion blender, but you may have to do it in batches depending on the size of your particular appliance.

If you can’t find any of these root veggies at your grocery store, you can just leave them out and add a little bit extra of something else. For example, if you can’t find celery root, throw an extra sweet potato or turnip in there instead!

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 cup
• Calories: 297
• Sugar: 8 g
• Sodium: 106 mg
• Fat: 24 g
• Carbohydrates: 23 g
• Fiber: 6 g
• Protein: 10 g
• Cholesterol: 0 mg

If you make this or any of my other recipes, be sure to Instagram it and hashtag #thegarlicdiaries!

Want more Whole 30? Check these posts out:

Roasted Chicken and Veggie Bowls with Cashew Curry Sauce

Fried Egg Turkey Burgers with Sweet Potato Buns

Whole 30 Week One Recap