Winter Vegetable Soup

My first recipe posting and hopefully some inspiration to check out your local farmer's market!

I picked up this recipe from epicurious.com and apparently it's one of Madonna's fav's. I made it about a week ago and just went back to the market to get more winter root veggies to make it again.

You should feel free to experiment with different veggies especially if you don't have access to all the ones listed below. Try and stick with the Winter Root variety, but have fun too.

Soup:
Ingredients:
3 tbsp olive oil
1 cup coarsely chopped onion
1 cup peeled, cored and coarsely chopped Granny Smith apple
1 cup peeled and coarsely chopped turnip
1 cup peeled and chopped butternut squash (seeds discarded)
1 cup coarsely chopped carrot
1 cup peeled, chopped sweet potato
5 cups vegetable (or chicken) stock
2 tbsp maple syrup
Cayenne pepper

Instructions:
For soup, heat oil in a large saucepan on medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté until translucent. Add apple, turnip, squash, carrot, and sweet potato; season with salt, then sauté 5 minutes. Add stock, bring to a boil and simmer, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add syrup, then cayenne pepper to taste. Cool slightly. Puree with a hand mixer, food processor or blender.

Toast:
Ingredients:
1 small whole-grain baguette
3 oz goat cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives

Instructions:
For toast toppers, cut 6 slices bread and toast them. Spread 1/2 oz goat cheese on top of each; sprinkle with chives. Pour soup into 6 large bowls; float toast on top.

ENJOY!