I just love love love my root veggies, especially parsnips and I have recently become inspired to make myself soups from scratch at home.  I have actually never done that before, except for miso soup, which is quite easy, but I was surprised to find how easy making other soups are too!

With a big pot of soup in mind, I bought this gianormous parnsnip at the Union Square Green market.  I swear it organic and not genetically modified!  Although, it definitely is an award winner in my book.

1 1/2 pound parsnips – peeled, sliced into 1 cm pieces and chopped in half
1 medium onion – chopped
2 cloves of garlic – chopped
2 sticks of celery – chopped
1 quart of veggie stock or just water (veg stock will give it more flavor)
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4-1/2 tsp chili powder ( I did 1/2 because I like spicy!)
1 TBLS olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

***you can also add your choice of greens-kale, spinach, chard, you know me, I love to add greens!****

Start out by heating the oil in a large saucepan.  Add onion and celery, stirring as they soften for about 3 minutes.  Next, add the garlic and all of the powdered spices, too.  Turn of the heat and stir as it cooks for about a minute.  Then add the parnsips and veg stock and/or water.  Put the lid on and bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer until the parsnips soften.  Took mine a little less then 15 minutes.  Now pour into your blender or use one of those blendy tools that you can put into the pot (with heat off) to turn it all into a creamy base.

I poured mine back in the pot after Vitamixing and then added salt and pepper to my taste.  Also, I made a similar soup last night and after blending turned it back on low on the stove and stirred in some ripped kale leaves for some added nutrition and just let it simmer a little bit more until the kale wilted.

Today, I re-heated my leftovers on the stove and added some leftover cooked brown rice to it, too! And, Im scooping it up with my raw cheezy crackers (recipe coming soon!)

So delicious. Nutritious and comforting!