Creamy Vegetable Soup (Crema de Verduras)

This soup was inspired by mom’s sopa de verduras. As a little girl, I was a very finicky eater and that was at a time when grandmothers thought that if you weren’t a little fat, you weren’t healthy :). So, my mom and grandmother did everything they could to get me to eat. My mom discovered that if she made me soup and put it in a blender, that I would eat it! Well, this vegetable creamy soup was my favorite.

Autumn is a beautiful season, but it has been very cold here in the Northeast part of the country lately. It even snowed yesterday, which was a big surprise. Although it’s only the middle of October, it seems as though winter has made an early appearance. I’m not a big fan of winter and every time I see the snow I think about soup. After all, what’s better than a bowl of soup on a cold winter day?

Ingredients

(6 servings)

• 1 tablespoon oil
• ½ cup chopped onion
• 1 scallion, chopped
• 2 large potatoes, peeled, diced
• 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
• Salt and pepper
• 6 cups chicken, beef or vegetable stock
• 1 cup peas
• 1 cup green beans
• 1 cup corn
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• ½ cup chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish
• Heavy cream for serving (optional)

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, scallions, garlic and cook for about 5 minutes, while stirring.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Reduce the heat to medium, cover and simmer for about 45 minutes or until all the vegetables are cooked.
3. Working in batches, puree soup in blender until smooth and return soup to saucepan. Bring soup to simmer, correct seasonings adding salt and pepper, to taste.
4. Ladle soup into bowls. Top with 1 tablespoon of heavy cream and garnish with cilantro.