Feeding people is my love language. And I don’t just mean shoving food in someone’s face. For me, it’s all about making them feel cared for. Knowing that their allergies or dietary choices are going to be respected. Feeling like it’s safe for them to eat without judgement or fear of bad reactions.

Whenever I know I’m going to cook for somebody, I immediately demand to know their food allergies, dietary restrictions, likes and dislikes. And most of the time people are like, oh no it’s fine, but I don’t care if you don’t want to be a bother, I’m gonna accommodate the heck out of you.

And besides – it’s a fun cooking challenge for me to come up with something absolutely delicious that I know everyone can eat. Because you don’t make someone feel cared for by forcing your own preferences upon them. You make them feel cared for by respecting their own.

This is a healthy, hearty, totally vegan vegetable soup that’s great in winter!

The original recipe blended part of the soup to make it more of a chowder, which I imagine would be delicious. Personally I just hate blending soups (messy splattering hot things and more dishes to clean? no thank you!) so I skipped that part, but if you don’t mind so much then go for it!

Winter Vegetable Soup

adapted from The First Mess

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced (1 3/4 cups)
• 1 leek, white and light green parts diced
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• leaves of 5 thyme sprigs, chopped
• 2 parsnips, peeled and chopped (1 1/2 cups)
• 1/2 celery root, peeled and chopped (1 1/2 cups)
• 2 cups chopped cauliflower florets
• 1 1/2 tbsp grainy mustard
• salt + pepper to taste
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• fried onions, for topping

Cooking Directions

1. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy soup pot over medium heat. Add the diced onions to the pot and sauté until soft and translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Add the leeks and continue to sauté until the leeks are soft, about 4 minutes more. Add the minced garlic and thyme to the pot and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add the chopped parsnips, celery root, and cauliflower florets to the pot and stir to coat in the oil. Add the grainy mustard, and salt + pepper to taste. Stir to coat all the vegetables in spice. Add the vegetable stock to the pot, stir again, cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, remove the lid and lower heat to simmer. Let the chowder cook and bubble until the parsnips and celery root pieces are tender, about 15-18 minutes.
2. Serve hot, topped with fried onions.

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