Autumn Vegetable Soup

San Diego has been the recipient of a healthy dose of rain this week. Combine that with a convertible top that leaks, idiot drivers on the freeway, and a two-foot high stack of depositions to review at work, and I was ready to come home to a glass of wine and comforting bowl of soup!

Fine Cooking flashed this Autumn Vegetable Soup on their web site recently, and I immediately printed it out to try. I encourage you to do the same ;-)

Autumn Vegetable Soup
Courtesy of Ellie Krieger, Fine Cooking

Ellie says, "Besides their clear health benefits, vegetable soups are the perfect canvas for what's in season. This time of year, there's nothing better than hearty, warming soups loaded up with a variety of gorgeous fall vegetables. The foundation of onion and carrots is enhanced with chunks of butternut squash and ribbons of kale in a broth infused with herbs and spices. In two words: satisfaction guaranteed."

Serves 6 to 8 as a starter; 4 as a main course
Yields about 8 cups

2 Tbs. olive oil
3 medium carrots, cut into medium dice
1 large yellow onion, cut into medium dice
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
2 cups 1/2-inch-cubed peeled butternut squash (about half a 2-lb. squash)
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
Pinch cayenne pepper; more to taste
Kosher salt
1 quart lower-salt chicken broth
1 14.5-oz. can no-salt-added diced tomatoes
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 cups lightly packed, coarsely chopped kale
1 cup lower-salt canned chickpeas

Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the carrots and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Add the squash, allspice, cayenne, and 1 tsp. salt and stir to combine. Add the broth, tomatoes with their juice, and thyme. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the kale and the chickpeas and cook uncovered until the squash is tender and the kale has wilted, about 10 minutes more. Discard the thyme springs before serving. Season to taste with more salt and cayenne.

You can refrigerate this soup for 3 days or freeze for 2 months. 

Newf Notes:  I made a few adaptations, mainly because we had beautiful Roma tomatoes from the garden that needed to be used.  I roasted the butternut squash cubes on one side of a baking sheet, and the halved and seeded Romas on the other side, both drizzled with a little olive oil, pinch of salt and grind of the pepper mill, for about 40 minutes, at 425 degrees F. I used Cannellini beans instead of chickpeas and used about a teaspoon of crushed red pepper in place of the cayenne. I also roasted a small portion of the kale for about 10 minutes to use as garnish, and grated some fresh Parmesan cheese into the soup instead of adding extra salt. I served our soup with warm Garlic Naan bread. After a couple glasses of Chianti and bowl of soup, I can now cruise through tomorrow and into the weekend.