Roasted Beet, Carrot & Onion Soup!

Hardy Ingredients

It may be a bit strange to start off a posting about soup by discussing juicers, but bear with me - there's a method to my madness!

I've been investigating juicers.  I have a citrus juicer that I love and use all the time.  But I'd like to take the next step and get one that can handle vegetables like beets.  An important thing to remember when you're juicing beets:  you have to mix them with other vegetables because they are too intense on their own.  I read online that ingesting straight beet juice can end with a trip to the emergency room - it can paralyze your vocal chords, cause chills and fever and make you break out in hives.  It's recommended that you mix it with apple juice - or other vegetables like carrots.  (I also read that you shouldn't combine beets with other vegetables that are high in calcium like broccoli - it is indigestable.)  Not to scare you off juices with beets - you just have to do the research and be careful. 

Beets and carrots from the farmers market

You don't have to worry about having beet soup straight  - I've posted a recipe for beet soup in the past and it's delicious - this recipe is just something different.  In fact, I was making beet soup for the week when I saw that I had a carrot from the farmers market and an onion. I decided to experiment. 

You can boil or roast beets - it's up to you - they taste just about the same in the final analysis.  I prefer to peel my beets and, since I was incorporating the onion and carrots, I roasted them this time out.  I bought enormous beets so I quartered them after peeling.  I cut the carrot down to manageable pieces too.  I peeled and quartered the onion, too.  I covered them in 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, added salt and pepper and baked them at 300 degrees for about 2 hours.  I checked on them every so often and flipped them around using tongs.  The onions cooked very quickly and I removed them after about 45 minutes and set aside. 

Veggies after roasting

I will always love plain old beet soup, but this will definitely be a permanent part of my repertiore.  The carrots and onion give the soup an added dimension.  I added zero fat green yogurt and non-fat chicken stock when I blended the ingredients into soup.  You can skip the yogurt if you want to go for the more rustic tasting soup.  Either way is healthy and delicious!

I have soup everyday for lunch along with a big salad

Ingredients

Since beets vary wildly in size, this is a recipe that you can eyeball - here is how it worked out for me this time around

2 large beets - peeled and quartered

1 large carrot - peeled and quartered - or you can use baby carrots

1 medium onion - peeled and quartered

1 - 1/2 cups non-fat chicken stock (you can also use plain tap water)

1 8-ounce tub of non-fat Greek yogurt (optional)

Salt & pepper to taste

Method

Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees

Put the beets, carrots and onion on a non-stick pan

(I used my Le Creuset skillet)

Bake for 2 - 3 hours, until beets and carrots are soft (remove onion after 30 - 45 minutes)

Once beets, carrots and onion have cooled put in blender

Add the stock or water

Blend until you get desired consistency - you may need to add more (or less) liquid

Once smooth, add yogurt if desired

I portion out in tupperware and take to work for lunch during the week.  I just heat up in the microwave.  If serving at home, you can heat in a pot on the stovetop to bring out the flavors even more.