Kale and Roasted Vegetable Soup

My BFF shared this recipe with me and it's perfect right now because butternut squash is getting ripe on the vine for all you lucky ducks that have butternut squash (apparently I planted a hybrid, boo!), and I had just picked some kale from my garden.  It was so super yummy!!  I think I've eaten the whole pot by myself.  Not even kidding.

Not going to lie, I was super skeptical about this tasting good.  I think my ten year old self took over briefly while I was cooking and looking at all the vegetables together and wondering how they could taste good.  But, it did and it was fabulous.  So fabulous, I had it for breakfast. 

Enjoy!

Kale and Roasted Vegetable Soup 
Original Recipe from HERE

Ingredients

• 3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced in small discs
• 2 large tomatoes, quartered
• 1 large onion, cut into wedges or  4 or 5 slices
• 1/2 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut in chunk size for soup.
• 6 peeled garlic cloves or 3 tsp. minced garlic
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 6 cups or more of vegetable broth (I did end up using a little more)
• 4 cups of finely chopped kale (I use my frozen kale from summer harvest)
• 1/8 tsp. dried ground thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 15 oz can of Great Northern white beans, drained
• Salt (I used sea salt)
• Pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Brush rimmed baking sheet with a thin coat of olive oil. Arrange carrots, squash, tomatoes, onion, and garlic on sheet. Drizzle with more olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Roast vegetables until they are brown and tender, stirring occasionally, about 40 - 45 minutes.
2. Pick out garlic cloves, tomatoes, and onion and puree until smooth (or keep chunky if you like chunky, but my kids don't). Pour 1/2 cup broth onto the baking sheet; scrape up any browned bits. Transfer broth and vegetable puree to large pot. Add 5 1/2 cups broth, kale, thyme and bay leaf to pot. Bring to boil. Reduce heat. Simmer uncovered until kale is tender, about 30 minutes.
3. Add carrots, beans, and squash to soup. Simmer 8 minutes to blend flavors, adding more broth to thin soup if necessary. Season with salt and pepper. Discard thyme sprigs and bay leaf.
Can be made a day ahead.  
4. Enjoy!

So, I didn't really read the original directions very well and ended up doing it this way, and now just do it this way every time.  Though I do only quarter my tomatoes and onions NOT dice them.  That took way too long to separate!  But, they smelled so good, and I couldn't get my niece to stop eating the carrots they were so yummy!! 

*Please note this recipe does not freeze very well, the butternut squash tends to get mushy.