Soup for a Snowy Day

After a long dry spell, we've been getting "a lot" of snow in the metro NYC area this month. There was about an inch on the ground when I left the house today, which was nothing compared to the "snow day" last Wednesday. Fearing "blizzard-like conditions" (which never quite materialized), I elected to work from home.

There are two benefits to working from home: I had a window to look out of (since I worked from my kitchen table) and I was able to make lunch at home. In fact, I dragged out the root vegetables I had purchased at Union Square a few weekends before -- fingerling potatoes, carrots, parsnips and turnips -- and set to make soup.

Taking inspiration from Ina, I peeled (all but the fingerlings) and chopped the green market vegetables into small pieces, combining with diced onion and garlic, sea salt and Penzey's Parisien Bonnes Herbes mix. After 40 minutes in a 400 oven, they were ready to join the broth and chicken bubbling on the stove. I let a handful of egg noodles cook in the broth (yes, it's a double carb soup) and stirred in a teaspoon of dill just before serving...myself.

Although the garlic flavor was a little too pronounced, the end result was hearty and healthy, and gave me enough energy to go out and shovel eight inches of snow off the car. Spring cannot come soon enough.

Chicken Soup with Roasted Root Vegetables

*Note: I diced the garlic and roasted it with the vegetables but think that roasting the cloves unpeeled and whole would have given the soup a more mellow and more desirable garlic flavor. If you go this route, don't forget to peel and diced the roasted garlic before adding to the broth.

Ingredients

3 Carrots, peeled and diced 2 Parsnips, peeled and diced

1 Medium onion, peeled and diced

2 Small turnips, peeled and diced

3 Fingerling potatoes, diced 2 T. olive oil 1 t. salt Freshly ground black pepper, to taste 6 C. chicken broth

2 C. water

2 C. cooked chicken, diced or shredded

1 C. egg noodles

1 t. dried dill

Method

Preheat oven to 400.

Combine vegetables, olive oil, salt, pepper and extra seasonings (if using) in a large pot; dump contents onto baking sheet that has been covered in foil.

Roast vegetables for 40 minutes, or until they start to turn brown and caramelize.

Heat chicken broth and water in original pot, bring to boil and add egg noodles; cook for six minutes or until noodles have softened.

Turn off burner. Add roasted vegetables* and diced chicken to pot and let sit for 10 minutes.

Stir in 1 teaspoon of dried dill and serve immediately. This soup is best eaten fresh as the noodles will continue to soak up moisture as it sits.