I was recently contacted by Grimmway Farms about doing a blog post about their organic produce. While you might not know the name of the California farm, chances are good you have purchased their organic Bunny-Luv carrots in your local grocery store, as well as a wide variety of other organic produce marketed as Cal-Organics. Now my regular readers know that I am an advocate of local produce, but in the winter months we are regular consumers of Bunny-Luv products and always have a bag in the crisper drawer.
For this recipe I used a pound of Bunny-Luv carrots as well as a large parsnip and onion, and I roasted the vegetables to develop the flavors. The roasting process concentrates the sugars and adds a deep flavor to the finished soup. To do this I just scrubbed and chopped the vegetables, tossed with olive oil and some spices, and roasted until tender and browned.
This looked and smelled so good coming out of the oven that we almost skipped the soup process and ate them directly from the pan–really, you cannot beat roasted vegetables! You might be tempted to add water while these are roasting, but trust that it isn’t needed and you want the depth of flavor you will get from dry roasting with just some olive oil. I added the polenta “croutons” to the oven for the last 25 minutes of roasting time, and they make a crispy-creamy-salty addition to this beautiful soup.
Roasted Carrot and Parsnip Soup with Polenta Croutons
1 pound organic carrots
1 large parsnip (or two medium)
1 large white onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
2 teaspoons rosemary blades
juice of one navel orange
8 cups hot water or vegetable stock
1 tablespoon butter (optional, and/or use Earth Balance to keep this vegan)
18 once tube of prepared polenta (or cook your own and chill in a pan overnight)
1 tablespoon olive oil
sea salt
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Trim and scrub the carrots. Cut into pieces and place in a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Peel the parsnip and cut into chunks of similar sizes and add to the baking pan. Peel the onion and cut into large wedges, and add to the other vegetables. Drizzle the vegetables with two tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle with the salt, white pepper, and rosemary. Roast for 35-45 minutes, stirring once or twice, or until the vegetables begin to brown and are tender when pierced with a knife.
Working in batches, puree the cooked vegetables with the juice of the orange and the water (in a regular blender, this will take 3-4 batches of vegetables pureed with about two cups of water per batch). Add each pureed batch to a tureen or soup pot. Be sure to include any pan roasting juices! When all of the roasted vegetables have been pureed, stir in the butter until melted, and taste and adjust the salt and pepper. If the soup is too thick, add in another cup or two of hot water or stock. Serve with the polenta croutons garnishing each bowl.
For the croutons: Remove the wrapper from the prepared polenta and slice it into cubes of desired size. Gently toss the cubes with olive oil and sprinkle with a little sea salt, and roast at 375 degrees for 20-30 minutes, or until crispy on the outside and lightly golden brown on the edges. Drain on paper toweling and serve hot with the soup.
Giveaway!
Grimmway Farms has provided three coupons for free organic produce to be awarded to one lucky reader, and to sweeten the deal I am throwing in a copy of Barbara Kafka’s influential book Roasting, which will show you how to bring out the roasted goodness in any kind of food. The coupons are good for any Bunny-Luv or Cal-Organics produce, which can be found in most national grocery stores. Total retail value of this giveaway is approximately $35.
Our winner was #8, Molly! Thanks to everyone for entering.
Here are the details for the giveaway, which is open to U.S. mailing addresses, only:
- For one entry, leave a comment after this blog post mentioning why you prefer organics.
- For a second entry, “like” Seasonal and Savory on Facebook and then be sure to leave a second comment below to get the extra entry (if you have already “liked” the page it still counts, just leave a comment below to let me know).
- Anyone can enter to win (you do not have to have a blog, and previous giveaway winners are welcome to enter), but if you leave an anonymous comment please include your email so I can contact you if you win.
- Giveaway will end on Wednesday, January 4th, at noon M.S.T. I will select a winner using Random.org and contact that person via email. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours I will use Random.org to select an alternative.
Disclaimer: Grimmway Farms provided samples of their produce as well as coupons for the reader giveaway, but I received no monetary compensation for this post and all opinions are my own.
Thanks for reading,
-Angela
I prefer organics when possible to keep down the chemical load on our bodies.
jehaine at yahoo dot com
I like organics because they're free of chemical nasties.
lovelydomesticdiva (at) gmail (dot) com
Yum, I love parsnips! A simple and delicious recipe!
What a delicious looking soup. Myself, I went with the traditional holiday treat trend. I'm so weak!
Such a great recipe & giveaway! I use organics because I don't want any chemicals & hormones in our food.
I prefer organics for my children as we try to avoid as many chemicals in our life as possible.
oh sounds so delicious love it when the cashier ask if those are white carrots
the color alone is reason enough to choose organic! I'm looking forward to making this soup for my family.
I prefer organics because I think they're healthier. I have lupus & fibromyalgia, my immune system is already messed up I figure the less chemicals I ingest the better, but I also think they're healthier for the whole family. I'm glad my daughter is trying to start her young kids with as much organic as possible.
I liked you on FB
Organic is a much healthier way to live. Cotton seed oil is a big no no!
I prefer organic because the thought of pesticides all over my food grosses me out. ha
threeyearsdown [at] gmail [dot] com
This soup looks so yummy! I'm so going to try this sometime soon! I definitely prefer organics because of the lack of pesticides and other chemicals. I feel so much better feeding my little girl all natural stuff.
I prefer to eat organic for a number of reasons. The biggest is that I don't want to expose myself, my family and all those that work in agriculture to nasty pesticides that have a detrmimental effect on our bodies and the environment.
BTW- I am a huge fan of roasting veggies! I would love to take a look at this book.
larkspurpurple (at) gmail.com
This soup looks phenomenal!
I liked you on FB a while ago.
This sounds like an absolutely delicious soup. With the croutons you took the recipe over the top. I'm so happy that I discovered your blog.
I like organics because I feel better about giving them to my children.
I like organics because I feel better about giving them to my children.
Hi Angela!!!! I love organics because I know who ever grew them added a little more love and patience, not to mention showed honor to the earth. I have my site back up, it's still at thevintagecook.com or can also be found at laniesmith.com now. Have a happy new year, your soup looks so warm and comforting.