Healthy New Year’s Winter Soup

The holidays are behind us and the new year ahead. What to do after a season of overeating and overindulging? Start it off by loading up on healthy meals! One great way to get your veggies in along with lots of vitamins and nutrients is soup. Not to mention that its still cold out there and nothing satisfies like a hot bowl of soup with a side of crusty bread.  Here’s one chock full of colorful veggies, protein filled chickpeas and more!!!

• 1 butternut squash
• 1 large yam
• 1 onion
• 1 leek
• 10 cups vegetable stock
• 4 large red potatoes cubed (soaked and drained)
• 1 large yam cubed (soaked and drained)
• 1 can chickpeas (drained and soaked)
• 4 tablespoons of maple syrup
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon a pepper
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Cut squash in half and remove seeds. Rub inside of both squash halves with oil and roast for 45 minutes.

Roast whole bulb of garlic for 30 minutes. Add oil to pot and turn burner to low. Julienne onion, dice leek, and add to pot. Cook on low for as long as possible without burning. 15 to 30 minutes.

Cube yam and potatoes and place in a bowl of water. Soak for 10 minutes to remove starch.

Once onions have caramelized, add vegetable stock to pot. Add potatoes and yam.

Rinse and soak chickpeas in water for 10 minutes and bring soup to a boil.

Drain and add chickpeas. Add salt, pepper, cinnamon, and maple syrup.

When garlic has finished roasting, peel it and add to soup. When butternut squash has finished roasting, scoop squash from peel into the soup.

Simmer soup for 30 minutes or until potatoes and yam are soft. Stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat and blend soup in the pot with a hand blender. Once smooth and creamy, let soup cook for a few more minutes.

Add more maple syrup, salt, and pepper if needed. To make it spicy, add 1/ 8 to 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper.

Serve with garlic toast and garnish with a sprinkle of cayenne, parsley, or both.