Green Vegetable Purée Soup

Leaves are turning, days are shortening, and I've started to crave apples, roasted root vegetables, and stew. Alas, the weather has not cooperated with my cravings (ninety degree heat waves are not stew friendly) and has forced me to compromise, for now. Enter veggie purée. Quick, convenient, versatile, pantry friendly, and incredibly nutritious- I blended several vegetables together on a whim and created a smooth and silky soup. The amounts I listed below were mostly out of convenience. I happened to have half a bag of peas in the freezer and one zucchini in the fridge when I constructed this recipe. Go wild. Use two zucchinis if you have them.

A few examples of other Purée friendly vegetables:
-Celery Root
-Fennel Root
-Turnip
-Leeks
-Celery
-Sweet potato
-Cauliflower

Green Vegetable Purée

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 pound broccoli, chopped
1 medium zucchini, chopped
1/2 pound frozen peas
2 cups stock (chicken or vegetable)
kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
juice of 1/2 a lemon
flat leaf parsley, chopped

-In a large soup pot, heat the extra virgin olive oil over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the carrot, broccoli, zucchini, peas, and season with kosher salt. Add stock and water until the vegetables are covered. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once boiling, reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for 20-25 minutes until all the vegetables are fork tender.

-Remove soup from heat and purée using a blender, food processor, or stick blender. If using a blender, purée in small batches to avoid a soup explosion. Return the purée to the original pot, reheat slightly, and season to taste with salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Ladle into bowls, garnish with parsley, and serve.

Note: This soup freezes very well.