Magenta Soup

This soup has such a wild color...you have to love it just for that.  Plus, it tastes great.  It's a little spicy, and, served with a dollop of plain yogurt, a little creamy.

I roasted the veggies one night for dinner (I made more than it reads in the recipe), then finished making the soup the next day.  I ate it for lunch 4 days in a row.

Magenta Soup
serves 4
3 tablespoons light olive oil, divided (it's refined enough so that it is stable at high temps, unlike extra virgin)
1 russet potato, peeled and chopped
1 beet, peeled and chopped
1 half of an acorn squash, peeled and chopped (which is hard to do, of course, though not impossible.  You might try roast larger pieces with the skin on and chopping later)
1 small onion, chopped
6 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 tablespoon dried thyme
salt and pepper (you might want to salt at the very end if you're using a salty, canned broth)
8 cups chicken broth


Preheat the oven to 400 F.  Drizzle half of the oil in a jelly roll pan or something large enough for the veggies to lay in a single layer.  Add the veggies and spices and the rest of the oil and mix to evenly distribute.  Roast for about 40 minutes, until veggies are soft and turn a little golden.

Transfer the veggies to a soup pot with the chicken broth.  Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.  Puree with an immersion blender until smooth.