Roasted Root Vegetable and Turkey Soup and Prospect Farm Soup Cook-Off Seriously Soupy

Roasted Root Vegetable and Turkey Soup - Seriously Soupy

Roasted Root Vegetable and Turkey Soup topped with Sage - Seriously Soupy

People's choice winner. Check out that squash!

This weekend I had the honor to participate in Prospect Farm's Soup Cook-Off - a communal cooking event/fundraiser for a new volunteer-run farm in Windsor Terrace. Once an open plot of land, the area has been transformed into a fully-functional compost deposit station where locals can drop-off their non-cooked waste to be turned into soil. Since there is a high-lead concentration in the soil, organizers are starting slow with the growing process where a small plot of land is used to grow carrots, romaine lettuce, kale, and beets. There are also several squashes that no one has planted but continue to thrive at the farm, including four to six different shapes of squash.

For the cook-off, I entered a roasted root vegetable and turkey soup/stew that I also made for the soup party a few weeks ago. One rule of the event was that all of the soups had to have at least one ingredient that came from a local source. Most of my soups use ingredients that come from my local farmers market, so that part was pretty easy in addition I used organic turkey and fresh herbs. A two-part recipe (some marinating is involved), this is a great soup/stew that is filing and has various flavors (sweet and savory) that is a healthy variation to a standard meat chili. I ended up winning the people's choice (see my squash trophy) that was tied with a cauliflower and chorizo soup with kale chips. I hope to have some of the recipes from the cook-off on here real soon!

Growing vegetables at the Prospect Farm


A massive squash at the Prospect Farm

Soup Tasting!

First Place: Barley Soup with Local Greens, Dill, and Feta
Second Place (tie): Jerusalem Artichoke Soup and Blue Cheese and Roasted Cauliflower Soup
People's Choice (tie): Roasted Root Vegetable and Turkey Soup and Cauliflower and Chorizo Soup with Kale Chips

For additional information about Prospect Farm, please visit www.ProspectFarm.org or fan them on facebook by visiting www.Facebook.com/ProspectFarmBK. You can also reach them via email them at ProspectFarmBK@gmail.com.

The Judges - Joe Brancaccio of Brancaccio's Food Shop and Brandon Maya

Roasted Root Vegetable and Turkey Soup
Serves 10-12
All vegetables come from local sources
Ingredients:
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut up
4-5 cups of water
2 turnips, cut up
5-6 beets, peeled and cut up
1 spaghetti squash
2 carrots, cut up
1 yellow onion, peeled and cut
1 pound of turkey meat
1 leek, cut up
1 celery stalk, chopped up
2 shallots, peeled and cut
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 small apple
1 bunch of fresh sage – (about a handful)
1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon of celery salt
salt and pepper
drizzle of olive oil (enough to coat the vegetables)

Directions:
If you can, chop up all of the vegetables and marinate them overnight in olive oil, salt, and pepper. The next day, pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and add the veggies to a baking sheet or aluminum foil. Let roast for 1 hour. While it is cooking, add some olive oil to the pan and cook the turkey, along with the shallots and leeks. Add water to a pot, along with the onion, garlic, apple, sage and the roasted vegetables. Add the celery salt, pepper, and salt and let cook for an hour, stirring periodically and tasting. Add more water if necessary and serve after 2 hours of cooking.