• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Tiny Urban Kitchen
  • About Me
  • Travel
  • Recipes
  • Michelin
  • Subscribe
  • Taiwanese
menu icon
go to homepage
  • About Me
  • Travel
  • Recipes
  • Michelin
  • Subscribe
  • Taiwanese
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • About Me
    • Travel
    • Recipes
    • Michelin
    • Subscribe
    • Taiwanese
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » Cuisine » American

    Autumn Root Vegetable Soup + Giveaway! {Sponsored}

    Published: Oct 31, 2014 · Modified: Apr 7, 2015 by Jennifer Che

    Boston foliage
    Hello glorious color!

    We are finally in the peak weeks of glorious fall foliage here in Boston. Despite several gloomy days of rain in the past week (our first Nor'easter in a series of several, sadly), many of the leaves have clung onto the trees, and we were blessed with balmy weather and beautiful vibrant hues this past weekend.
    As the cold weather comes upon us, I find myself craving soup.

    Soup is the perfect comfort food and one of my favorite foods in the colder seasons. Autumn is when the weekly farm share starts to deliver all sorts of root vegetables. Recently, I've gotten everything from rainbow carrots and Kennebec potatoes to purple kohlrabi, honeynut squash, and leeks. With Bryan traveling quite a bit this month (leaving me with the task of eating a whole weekly share by myself!), I find that I am gravitating towards soup as the perfect, all-in-one autumn meal.
    vegetable soup
    A couple weeks ago, McCormick (the spice brand!) invited me to partner with them on Flavor of Together, a program aims to start a global conversation about food and flavor by asking people to share their experiences with one another. For every story shared using #FlavorStory or on FlavorofTogether.com, McCormick will donate $1, up to $1.25 million to United Way to help feed those in need.

    One part of this program includes the concept of Clever Compact Cooking , a movement which embraces cooking in small spaces and discovering creative, cross-functional ways to prepare flavorful meals while making the most of what’s available. For example, check out this fun video by McCormick partner Chef Juan Pedrosa of The Glenville Stops in Boston, who demonstrates how to make vegetable pho with tea broth using a French press!

    For me, one tool that has been invaluable in helping me save time in the kitchen has been the pressure cooker, which is a lifesaver when it comes to cranking out healthy, made-from-scratch meals in about an hour.
    pressure cooker
    Soup can take a long time to make, especially on a traditional stove top with slow cooking ingredients like root vegetables, grains, and the like. These days, I always make soup in my trusty pressure cooker, definitely one of the biggest timesaving cooking tools Bryan's ever given to me as a gift.
    leeks
    Making what I call "veggie stew" at home is pretty simple and reasonably forgiving. I've shown an example of ingredients you can use here, but much of it is interchangeable. Feel free to substitute other root vegetables like turnips, parsnips, and squash.

    Most importantly, you want to have aromatics (like onions, shallots, leeks) as a base.
    veggie collage
    I like to add carrots for their sweetness and something celery-like, whether it be celery itself, celeriac, or fennel bulb (pictured above). I absolutely love potatoes in a vegetable soup, so if I have some in the weekly vegetable share, I will most definitely add them. I like the umami that smoked meat offers, so I usually add something like bacon, smoked ham, or sausage. I also like to add dried Shitake mushrooms, which add a lovely deeper umami as well.
    Making Soup
    Start out by cooking your meat. In my case, I wanted to render some of the fat from the bacon so I could use it to saute the rest of my aromatics. After cooking the aromatics for a couple minutes, add the rest of your vegetables, fill the pot up with broth or water. Add spices. I like to use thyme, a bay leaf, and lots of black pepper.

    Cook under high pressure for about 30 minutes. Then slowly release the pressure. If you're not in a hurry, you can just turn off the heat and let it naturally release pressure. Otherwise, you can also release pressure more quickly using the method recommended by the manufacturer. In the case of my Kuhn Rikon I just press down on the little lever on top and it released steam until the pressure is back down.

    Salt to taste. If you're using water or a low sodium broth, you may need to add a bit more salt.

    Serve!
    vegetable soup

    Giveaway!
    Share your own unique flavor story by commenting on this post using the hashtag #flavorstory and be entered for a chance to win a McCormick Anniversary Pack. The pack includes exclusive McCormick products (both black pepper and vanilla extract – not available in stores!), a McCormick recipe book, and a branded canvas tote – all valued at $50. For inspiration, feel free to check out other flavor stories on their website.

    Giveaway closes on November 4th, at midnight, EST.

    Good luck!

    Autumn Vegetable Root Soup
    Recipe Type: Soups
    Cuisine: American
    Author: Jennifer Che from Tiny Urban Kitchen
    Prep time: 20 mins
    Cook time: 30 mins
    Total time: 50 mins
    Serves: 6-8 servings as a starter
    A great way to use up CSA farm share vegetables, this hearty soup can be made in under an hour using a pressure cooker
    Ingredients
    • 4 strips of bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
    • 2 leeks, chopped
    • 2-3 shallots, sliced
    • 3-4 carrots, sliced
    • 3-4 small potatoes (or 1 large potato)
    • 1 head of kohlrabi, cut into cubes (optional)
    • ½ to ¾ cup of a grain (e.g., wheatberries, barley, rice)
    • 2-3 cups of water or broth (enough to cover the vegetables in the pot)
    • ½ teaspoon thyme (e.g., McCormick brand)
    • 1 bay leaf (e.g., McCormick brand)
    • salt and pepper to taste
    Instructions
    1. Saute bacon in the pressure cooker over medium heat for about 5 minutes or under the fat is mostly rendered
    2. Add leeks and shallots and cook until shallots are translucent
    3. Add carrots, potatoes, kohlrabi, and any other root vegetables
    4. Add grains
    5. Add water or broth until all vegetables are covered (to speed things up, preboil the water or broth separately while chopping vegetables)
    6. add thyme, bay leaf, and pepper
    7. Cook on high pressure for 30 minutes. Release the pressure according to the manufacturer's instructions.
    8. Salt to taste and serve
    3.2.2802

    Disclaimer: this post is sponsored by McCormick. All opinions are my own.

    More American

    • Morty's Wan Chai
      Morty's Delicatessen Hong Kong - Morty's HK
    • Crack
      The Crack Shack Los Angeles California
    • Happy Thanksgiving! Che Family Thanksgiving Turkey
    • Harvest Moon Sonoma

    Recent Posts

    • Restaurant Korus Paris March 30, 2023
    • Restaurant Virtus Paris March 27, 2023
    • NE/SO Paris (Neso Paris) March 24, 2023
    • Les Enfants du Marche Paris March 18, 2023
    • Wong Kee Restaurant 旺記打冷小菜館 March 14, 2023
    • Frenchie Wine Bar (Frenchie Bar à Vins) March 13, 2023
    • Dublin Ireland Trip Report March 12, 2023
    • Palazzo Parigi Milan, Italy March 9, 2023

    Reader Interactions

    Trackbacks

    1. Hearty Kale Bacon Soup with Barley - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
      March 23, 2015 at 12:03 pm

      […] under pressure (high) until the grain is done cooking (a little less than 20 minutes). I’ve done this with wheatberries too (they don’t expand as much). You could even play around with other fun grains: farro, […]

      Log in to Reply
    2. West Bridge Cambridge - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
      March 27, 2015 at 11:00 am

      […] pinpoint all the root vegetables, but the flavors were comforting and familiar, reminding me of the root vegetable soups I had made during the autumn with my farm share CSA vegetables. All of their bread is baked […]

      Log in to Reply

    Primary Sidebar

    Jennifer Che Tiny Urban Kitchen
    Jennifer Che Tiny Urban Kitchen

    Hi, my name's Jen and welcome to my cooking, eating, and travel site! I am an expat who moved from Boston to Hong Kong 5 years ago. Born and raised in Ohio to Taiwanese immigrant parents, I am a chemistry nerd, patent attorney by day, blogger by night, church musician on weekends, and food enthusiast always. Feel free to explore away, maybe starting with the Recipe Index or one of the travel pages! I hope you enjoy this site!

    More about me →

    Explore

    • Recipe
    • Restaurant
    • US Travel
    • World Travel

    Popular Posts

    • prawn head sauce, prawn pasta, burrata cream, marigold leaf,
      Restaurant Korus Paris
    • peas tart
      Restaurant Virtus Paris
    • NE/SO Paris (Neso Paris)
    • Les Enfants du Marche Paris

    Recipes

    • Appetizer
    • Snacks
    • Meat
    • Vegetables
    • Soup
    • Salad
    • Seafood
    • Noodles

    Recently Traveled

    • Hong Kong
    • France
    • Belgium
    • Boston
    • California
    • United Kingdom
    • Germany
    • Spain

    Support Us

    Recognition


    Featured on the front page
    of the FOOD Section: 2015

    Best Food Blog Awards:
    Restaurant & Dining 2012

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • About Me
    • My Equipment
    • In the Press
    • Project Food Blog
    • Privacy Policy

    Eating Guides!

    Eating & Travel Guides
    Trip Reports
    "Kawaii" (Cute Foods)
    Around the World

    • Pinterest
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Twitter
    • LinkedIn
    • YouTube
    • Mail
    • RSS Feed

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Shop at Amazon

    Copyright © 2022 Tiny Urban Kitchen