Radical Muffin

As you begin, let a stick of butter sit at room temperature. Pick thyme. I mean, throughout the process, pick thyme or pick a bunch to begin with or have a friend picking thyme. You will want three – four tablespoons and those leaves are itty bitty.

In a heavy stockpot, heat a tablespoon of olive oil and two tablespoons of the butter.

As you chop the following parade of veggies into hunks the size of walnuts, toss them into the sizzling fat. These are the winter veggies that called to me at the Grand Army Plaza green market, and they can easily be substituted with veggies that call to you—any winter vegetables in the same starchy, peppery, rooty family, like rutabaga (maybe also cauliflower). If organically farmed, those with thin skins keep it on for the soup.

Slither the papers off of one small red onion. Quarter it and halve the quarters. Smash, peel, and roughly chop into thirds three cloves of garlic. Scrub and chop four Yukon gold potatoes and two medium-big carrots. Peel and chop one celeriac and three golden turnips. Pry the hide from four kohlrabi and chop. Slice an apple in half, quarter and core it.

Sauté the whole pile up, stirring occasionally, for about ten minutes. Sautéing them lets the sugars caramelize, deepening the soup flavor. Meander through the chopping process; chop the onions and garlic cook for a few minutes while you do some other small task for the dinner, picking thyme or zesting things. Let each grouping of veggies – from the alliums to the sputniks—have a moment at a clearing in the center of the pot.

Cover your roots and fruits with stock and bring to a boil; lower the heat and simmer for 40 minutes to an hour. We used a quart of stock and topped up with water.

Near the soup pot, set up a blender (your hand-me-down from Titi Marie or the neighbor’s kitchen—this soup is worth borrowing the equipment if you haven’t got it). Puree the soup in batches, ladling a generous amount of broth into the blender with the veg parts to run it all velvety thick.

Scooping with the wooden spoon we used for stirring, I added three generous plops of Greek yogurt. It probably amounted to a cup. Then stir in a 1/4 of whole milk. Maintain heat until very hot but do not boil after you’ve added the dairy.

Stir thyme into the softened butter; about three tablespoons of fresh thyme into the remaining stick of butter.

Ladel soup—gorgeous saffron color—into bowls, add a fatty pat of thyme butter, let melt a bit, and swirl on top of the soup. Weep for joy for the bounty provided.

To veganize: increase the initial olive oil, omit the yoghurt/milk, using so milk if you are so inclined but I don’t think that is even necessary and pretty luxurious at the veg purée stage. Add the thyme near the end of cooking and just stir in, drizzle a swirl of olive oil on top.

Adapted from the epicurious recipe white root vegetable soup with thyme butter, Bon Appétit | December 2001.