This is the time of year when lots of root vegetables are in season. I try to eat things that are in season, but this time of year can be challenging. Today when I was looking for recipes to make for dinner I was kind of disappointed. I knew I could still buy the vegetables I wanted, but I also knew that they were going to be more expensive and imported from a far off land. Did you know that the average food item travels 1,500 miles to get to your table? It’s kind of mind boggling, but it makes sense. In most supermarkets there are no seasons anymore. Today I tried to come up with a recipe with ingredients that were in season. I knew root vegetables were in season, so I decided to use them somehow. I like roasting them but this can get boring. So I came up with this original soup recipe instead. Here are the ingredients I used:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 leek (tender white and green parts only), split lengthwise and sliced into half moons
• 2 tbsp minced shallots
• 3 cloves garlic (mine were small though so you might use two)
• 1 1/4 cups chopped white onion
• 1 1/2 cups cubed butternut squash
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 1 cup chopped parnsips
• 1 1/2 cups cubed golden beets
• 2 cups cubed peeled potatoes (you can use any kind; purple would add an interesting hue)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 8 cups vegetable broth (I make my own. Check out the recipe here.)

Chop the vegetables.

To get all the grit out of the leek, chop it and then wash it. This technique works really well.

Heat the oil in a pot. Add the leeks, onions, shallots and garlic and sauté until softened, about five minutes.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add the rest of the vegetables. (At this point I had to switch to a larger pot because I realized the one I was using was too small.)

Add the vegetable broth, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer covered for 30-40 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.

Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until smooth. Mine is metal. There are a lot of plastic immersion blenders, but I don’t really get why they exist. Same with plastic turkey basters. Putting hot food in plastic makes it melt and then you have melted plastic in your food. Did you know that we each have a pound of plastic dissolved in our bodies? (I’m not making that up.) Alternately you can blend the soup in batches in a blender. You could even use a potato masher.

Enjoy! Serve with bread if you like.