Soup(er) Wednesday

When I left work today the sky was pasty gray and the rain was just starting to fall. It was just enough to cool things here and I was feeling  like I needed some kind of warm comfort food for dinner. Therefore, soup was on my mind! When my friends were here over the weekend, we made a very similar soup with sweet potatoes, acorn squash, etc. Since I still had a few of those veggies left over, I set about recreating that same soup. I've made this soup a lot over the last year or so with some minor variations each time. Yet, it never fails to turn out great! Here's the recipe:

Perfect for cool fall evenings!

Beta Carotene Power Soup
Serves ~4?
Ingredients:
-3 small sweet potatoes
-2 small turnips
-1 acorn squash
-2 cloves garlic
-3 1/2 cups vegetable broth (approximately...)
-Salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Halve the acorn squash, scoop the seeds out with a spoon and microwave for 2-3 minutes until softened. Let squash chill in the microwave until it's no longer too hot to handle.
2. Meanwhile, peel the potatoes. Cube the potatoes and turnips. Bring 2 cups of the broth to simmer (uncovered) on stove. Add the chopped potatoes and turnips. Scoop the flesh out of the skin of the acorn squash and add to the pot.
3. As that begins to simmer, mince the garlic and add to the pot. Cover and simmer until the vegetables are softened. Add the S+P and red pepper.
4. Bring out your blender (dust it if it hasn't seen the light of day in a while!) and puree the soup in batches (adding the rest of the vegetable broth to achieve desired consistency).
Usually I pair this soup with a grilled cheese sandwich for dipping. I topped mine with a bit of spicy black beans and goat cheese. Delish!