My sister texted me a photo recently of something she got in her CSA box. The veg was round in shades of purple and white. I identified it immediately as a rutabaga. Clueless on what to do with it, she asked for suggestions. My advice? Treat it like a potato.

Mashed rutabaga is fabulous with some melted butter and herbs. Scalloped rutabaga would be equally fab. Rutabaga fries could totally be a WIN.

I just so happened to have purchased a rutabaga myself. Instead of being mashed, scalloped or fried, my rutabaga was destined for soup. Hearty root veggie soup with thai red curry paste, and creamy coconut.

No muss, no fuss, super easy, and super filling.

Start with a bunch of root veggies. Pretty much any will do.

I used purple potatoes, rutabaga, parsnips, and carrots. I also threw in a butternut squash. Because I could. I cut the veggies and squash into equal sized pieces, tossed them with olive oil, maple syrup, and a good sprinkling with course kosher salt. Then I roasted them in the oven until tender.

I kept the broth simple. I simmered whole cloves of garlic, red pearl onions, and celery in chicken stock. I also added the seeds and pulp from the inside of the butternut squash.

Once the root veg were done, I strained out the broth, and added the root veg to the soup along with some thai red curry paste and a whole can of coconut milk. 30 more minutes on a low simmer. Then BOOM!

At this point I whipped out the immersion blender and pureed the soup as much as possible. But if chunky is your thang, feel free to leave it. It is YOUR soup after all.

Add another 30 minutes on low just to let all the flavors meld together.

And then?

Why dinner is served.

So good that you can totally rock a polka-dotted pink spoon with it.

Cheers!