Roasted Winter Vegetable Soup

I was working on a PowerPoint show for a group of daycare providers to help them be more efficient in the kitchen. One of my favorite tricks for an easy dinner is to put everything in the oven because a roasted dinner tastes great, requires no attendance time and makes the house smell great. Usually this works great with roasted chicken along with roasted potatoes, roasted fennel, roasted ratatouille, or any other roasted vegetables.For this soup, I did the same thing. I roasted all of the vegetables together and then pureed them in the blender. Soup was cooking while I was working!Check out the ingredients. Nutritionally speaking, they are impressive. But better still, they present a rich creamy soup with a beautiful orange color. (Shhh, they will never know it is low in fat and sodium and high in fiber!)

Ingredients:1 butternut squash, cut in half and seeded and stem removed1/2 onion, peeled1 yellow bell pepper, cut in half and seeded2 carrots, cut in half4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth1 cup fat-free half and halfdash black pepperdash Tabasco sauceDirections:

1. Place the veggies in a roasting dish. Roast for 90 minutes at 325 degrees.
2. Puree the veggies with broth and fat-free half-and-half in a blender. It will take a few batches to puree all of the veggies.
3. Place back on the stove and bring to a boil over low heat. Season with black pepper and a little hot pepper sauce (Tabasco). Adjust consistency with cream. Serve hot immediately or refrigerate for later use.
4. Serve with whole grain crackers.

Chef's Tips:The soup is a bright orange color and has a beautiful creamy texture and roasted veggie flavor. We served it in onion soup ramekins with whole grain crackers and salad for a light lunch or dinner.Serves 4. Each 1.5 cups serving: 194 calories, 3g fat, 1g saturated fat, 0g trans fat, 3mg cholesterol, 166mg sodium, 39g carbohydrate, 8g fiber, 11g sugars, 9g protein. Allergens: MilkHere is the recipe card PDF with the nutrition analysis:

RoastedWinterVegetableSoup

It is worth mentioning that we served this soup with high-fiber, whole-grain WASA crackers, which is a tip from the new book by Tanya Zuckerbrot, MS, RD, Miracle Carb Diet. We find that eating one cracker satisfies, compared to eating more traditional crackers that are high in fat and sodium. This is precisely her point in her book.

And of course, don't forget the salad! Here are winter greens, tomatoes and shredded carrots, dressed lightly with just a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and fresh lemon juice.

This post was brought to you by the NutritionEducationStore.comCheck out the great items featured for Nutrition Month: