Excellent dinner: leek and potato soup with roasted vegetables and lamb sausage

Here’s a reminder for myself for the great dinner I had tonight.  Leek and potato soup (the alternate version), roasted root vegetables, and a lamb sausage from Uli’s.  Roasted vegetables and the sausage are easy.  The winner was the soup, which was awesome, light, complex, and very flavorful.  It turns out a vegetable soup with roasted sweet and yellow potatoes is a delicious combo.  Everything compliments, and the dish is quite healthy while feeling very rich.  I’ve got a couple more days of this left, and I’m looking forward to them!

Roasted Root Vegetables

I’m posting this just so I have it here as a reminder to roast vegetables more often.  There is no technique, just yummieness.  I find it remarkable how much I enjoy roasted root veggies actually.  This is in contrast to roasted lighter vegetables, like peppers, zucchini, and eggplant, that almost always disappoint me.

Possible Ingredients

• yellow/white/red potatoes (waxy like Yukon Gold), sweet potatoes (400 calories per pound)
• onion, wedges (1oo calories per large onion)
• parsnips
• carrot
• celeriac ?
• butternut squash

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Chop vegetables into 1 inch ish sized pieces and spread them uniformly on a lightly oiled baking sheet that ideally has a small lip to catch any oil that might run.
3. Liberally drizzle olive oil over the vegetables.  Salt and pepper generously.
4. Bake for about an hour.
5. Enjoy!

Candied Sweet Potatoes

Needs no introduction.

Calories (w/o marshmallows or pecans): 2900

Ingredients

• 3 lb orange sweet potatoes
• 1 stick butter
• 1 C real maple syrup
• 1 T lemon juice
• 3/4 t salt
• 1/3 t black pepper

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Peel and section the potatoes into wedges.  Lay the wedges into a 9×13 baking dish.  Everything should fit in one layer, more or less.
3. Melt butter in a pot.  Pour in syrup, lemon juice, and seasonings.  Stir to mix pretty well and pour the mix over the potatoes.
4. Bake covered for 20 minutes or so.
5. Uncover, stir around, and bake for 45-60 more minutes, stirring a bit every 15 or so.  Take out when the potatoes are done to your taste and the glaze has thickened.
6. If you want to go classic, put marshmallows and crushed pecans on top during the last 10-15 minutes or upon reheating.