Mangé a Notre Maison: Silky Veggie Soup

As is the case every summer, I have begun to crave veggies. Especially the veggies that come out of my Dad's huge garden, but considering we are currently 3,868 miles from my dad's garden, and the fact that it's too early in the season to really eat anything from his garden (my stomach doesn't often listen to reason), I am forced to buy my vegetables from Grand Frais, which is a horrible, horrible grocery store. No, just kidding. Going to Grand Frais is like walking into a Trader Joe's sized store only the entire center is filled--filled with about four times the produce section of a normal grocery store. And all the produce is beautiful! And exotic. We've tried some of the strangest fruits and vegetables from that place. I really need to get some pictures sometime.

Anyway, to go along with my veggie craving kick, I decided the other day that our normal cornichon, saucisson sandwich was just too heavy for the nice, warm weather we had been having (it was nice, now it's just disgusting), so I picked up these:

With no idea of what I was going to do with them.

But our many times of making potato leek soup inspired me to just slice them all up,

Throw them in a pot, cover them with water,

Let them simmer until they're good and tender,

Purée them with the stick blender,

Throw in a handful of parsley (which could have been done earlier, if I had been gifted with the trait of foresight) and purée some more,

Add in about 1/2c of cream (ours was more liken 1/2 &1/2 but heavy cream would do just great...probably better, in fact), season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper,

And serve. And in the case of really hot weather (like what we're experiencing now), this soup could be made with vegetable or chicken stock in place of the water, slightly over-salted (flavor is lost when food is chilled), and served as a cold soup.

Here are some rough amounts to go by if you care to duplicate* the deliciousness:

Silky Veggie Soup

yield: 4 bowls

2 turnips

1 small zucchini

1/2 head of cabbage (any kind will do)
1 onion

1 qt water (or stock)

1 sprig parsley leaves

1/2 c cream

1. Peel the turnips and slice all vegetables into 1/4inch slices.
2. Place vegetables into large sauce pan and cover with water (or stock), if needed, use more that given amount. 
3. Bring pot to a boil then turn down to a simmer.
4. Allow vegetables to simmer for 45min-1hr, or until very tender.
5. Add parsley to pot and blend. This can either be accomplished with a stick blender, in a stand blender (do small batches and be careful!), or if you'd prefer a chunkier style, with a potato masher. 
6. Stir in the cream and salt and pepper to taste.

*really, this general idea could be used almost any vegetable you can find, so feel free to substitute away, although this particular mixture did make a great flavored soup