The cold season means root vegetables; something that isn’t particularly appreciated by most. You’ve got your “cool kids” available year round; the carrots, the potatoes; and then you’ve got the red-headed step children; turnips, rutabagas, parsnips, etc. They only get to leave their room when things get cold (maybe) and even then they’re not appreciated by many. Poor turnips….

A big reason for this “lack of cool” is that fall/winter root vegetables tend to be more bitter than their more ubiquitous cousins. While it can be argued that this provides the opportunity for a more complex flavor, this assumes the cook knows how to draw out this complexity. Otherwise, all you’ve got is a really bitter tasting dinner and an overwhelming desire to give Pizza Hut a call.

I tend to consider roasting as my first course of action with a vegetable I’m not comfortable with. Really, is there a vegetable that doesn’t have the potential to roast well? Carrots caramelize when roasted, releasing their sugars for a natural sweetening. This seemed to be an excellent pairing with turnips.

What is it to be tomato?  This is the question I asked myself as I stood in my kitchen, scanning my shelf of herbs and spices.  What compliments this red fruit so perfectly that, when melded together, would give me a hearty and delicious lunch for the coming week?  This, I assure you, is of high importance.

This is another dish I never had growing up (I use to hate tomatoes) so, as per the course when I have no idea what I’m doing, I browse a couple recipes and wing it.  There are far, far too many things in the culinary world that I have never sampled.  You ever think about this?  How many things you haven’t tried?  You could try a new recipe, a new ingredient, every week and you’d never run out of new options.  Crazy!

If I had over to do it again, I’d add a red bell pepper and use half crushed tomatoes, half diced.  The immersion blender does the trick but I would have liked something a little smooth, a little chunky.  Still tasty.  Consider playing with spices for the tortillas if feeling adventurous. They go well separately or torn into pieces in the soup.