Orange Soup - To Please a Paleo Palette (or should I use Palate?)

Orange Soup Paleo

No orange fruit is used to make this soup. You will use orange colored vegetables and seasonings. I threw in white onion, garlic, apple and red-brown bacon to give it some depth of flavor and hue. The color is significant only in that I had them on hand and the combo of ingredients sounded bright against the grey and snowy day… sweet, savory, salty and spicy. 

Ingredients

• ·      1 T Olive oil (or cook the bacon first and use the bacon grease - it would  work)
• ·      ¼ cup Onion (small) minced
• ·      2 Garlic cloves minced
• ·      1 Sweet potato, peeled and chopped into 1” pieces
• ·      5 Carrots, peeled and chopped into 1” pieces
• ·      1 lb. Butternut Squash, chopped, 1” pieces (I bought it chopped)
• ·      1 Apple, chopped, 1” pieces
• ·      6 Bacon pieces, cooked crispy and chopped
• ·      2 t Black pepper
• ·      2-3 t Cayenne Pepper
• ·      1/2  t Ginger 
• ·      ¼ t Turmeric
• ·      32oz Chicken broth (I bought a carton of organic, but one could make it, or use water enough to cover the vegetables.

Equipment:

• ·      Stove
• ·      3 Qt. Pan/pot
• ·      Small frying pan
• ·      Soup wand (little weed wacker)
• ·      Vegetable peeler
• ·      Sharp knife
• ·      Cutting board
• ·      Measuring spoons
• ·      Paper towel
• ·      Bowls and spoons

Directions:

Heat the oil on medium and sauté the onion till translucent, add garlic making sure it doesn’t brown. Once it is translucent, add potato, carrots, squash and apple then add pepper, ginger and turmeric. Toss all in the onion and garlic and let the flavors begin to combine. In the meantime, separately cook bacon to crispy and degrease on the paper towel. Chop four pieces and add them to vegetable mix. Chop the other two and put aside. Pour in the chicken broth (or barely cover the vegetables with water.) Bring it to bubbly, turn the heat down a notch and all but cover it, leaving room for steam to escape. Stir the pot every few minutes to make sure nothing is sticking and burning on the bottom. Set the table, uncork the wine and light the candle. After 20 minutes, test the pieces of vegetable with a fork for softness.  Once you can easily push a fork through, use the soup wand, potato masher or fork to make the ingredients smooth and creamy. Pour into bowls and gussy it up with the rest of the bacon. Or, apple shreds, a teaspoon or so of orange zest or parsley would look nice and taste good too rather than more bacon (in case in the meantime it disappeared… speaking from experience.) Put salt on the table, it may or may not be needed depending on those eating and the flavor freshness of the ingredients.

From first chop to first spoon lifted -  50 minutes. Faster if you buy all the veggies chopped.