Roasted Veggie Soup

What do you do with bags of leftover crudites after an event? You take one home and make roasted veggie soup.

My bag had lots of broccoli, snap peas, cherry tomatoes, bell pepper, and carrots. I was sure I had the makings of soup. I opened up my handy dandy Mark Bittman cookbook for some guidance. His recipe for largely unattended veggie stock caught my eye.

I coated my bag of veggies, some onion and garlic with olive oil and salt and placed into a 400 degree oven. After 45 minutes and some tossing for even roasting, my veggies were ready for the long simmer in chicken broth and white wine. I added some tarragon, pepper, chili flakes and a bay leaf to the pot and waited another 45 minutes. Shortly before it was done, I tossed in some chard for good measure.

I used the immersion blender to puree everything (except the bay leaf) and I had my first roasted veggie soup. It was so good that I ate three (small-ish) bowls right away. I was very satisfied. The veggies took on a more complex, full-bodied flavor than if I just tossed them into the simmering liquid raw.

Yesterday (?!), I added some shredded pork to some leftover soup and it was delicious. It's very versatile.

I can't wait for the next event when we have leftover crudites.