Name: Sweet Turnip and Carrot Soup
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Ingredients: 2-3 leek (thinly sliced (white and light green parts only) , about 1 cup); 1 Tbsp. olive oil; 3 turnips (peeled and diced, about 3 cups); 2 large carrot (chopped); 2 medium potato (roughly chopped – leave the peel on or off, it’s all good); 1 cups vegetable stock; 3 cups water (enough to just cover the simmering veggies); 1/8 tsp. nutmeg; 1/8 tsp. black pepper; 1/2 tsp. cinnamon; 1 tsp. cumin; 1/2 tsp. old bay seasoning; 1/4 tsp. cayenne; 1 tsp. dried dill; 3/4 cup full fat coconut milk; salt to taste

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This sweet fall soup makes a lovely starter for a formal dinner party.

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time30 mins

Servings: servings

Vegan

Soup

A warming vegan soup full of rich root vegetables and sweetened with coconut milk. I added a little bit of spice too.

Time and time again "turnip" shows up in my search stats far more often than any other vegetable. It's possible that there are just not that many recipes out there for the lowly turnip.

Things to know about Turnips

Turnip is a root vegetable, part of the Brassica family (same as cabbage). One of my favourite fall and winter vegetables. Easy to find and rather economical.

They do feel a bit old-fashioned. Some of us might remember chunks of turnip in grandma's stew. A cheap and plain vegetable. And this could be why we pass over them in the produce section.

But when treated right, they are tasty, rich and comforting. This turnip soup recipe and this roasted turnip dish both prove that turnips belong on any fall dinner table.

And in case you were wondering, take a careful look my friends, this is a turnip.

Note that it is small and round, white with a tint of purple on the stem end.

A turnip is not the same as a rutabaga

Rutabagas are often confused for a turnip. Yes they are related, more like cousins. Here are the main differences.

I don’t have a picture of a rutabaga available to show you – they are large (small head of cabbage large), yellow-flesh, heavy, brownish and usually covered in a thick wax. Sometimes called yellow turnip.

I have nothing against rutabagas. In fact, I adore them. I have fond memories of sweet mashed rutabaga at our holiday dinner table. Which we called mashed turnip and which is why I feel I need to clarify this for everyone.

Turnips and rutabagas are very different vegetables. Turnip is also sweet, but rutabagas are sweeter. Turnip flesh is usually white and has a bit of a peppery bite to it. A little more zest. More kick.

And then someone will come along and tell me that they are in fact the same vegetables -- just different varieties, and I will tell them that I don't care. In my mind they are different. And the difference is important.

because look at this pretty soup you can make with a turnip or two...

I adapted this recipe from The Garden of Vegan by Sarah Kramer. Which I think is long out of print now. I needed to kick it up to suit our taste buds. We like spicy! So I added more seasonings and replaced 1 cup of soy milk with full-fat coconut milk.

This soup is pureed after the vegetables are tender so don’t worry about chopping them in uniform pieces, just small enough so they all cook at the same time.

How to make turnip soup

This simple soup comes together quickly:

Start with a large pot over medium-high heat and sauté leeks in olive oil, until the leeks are soft and fragrant.

Add the remaining ingredients, all except the coconut milk, to the soup pot and bring to a boil. Use just enough liquid to almost cover the vegetables – adjust as necessary. You can always add more liquid later to the pureed soup to get the consistency you like.

Reduce heat to a simmer and simmer until the vegetables are tender - 20-30 minutes.

Puree the soup and add the coconut milk. Blend and adjust seasoning as necessary. That's it!

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