Vegan goodness, maybe for Thanksgiving? Turnip and cider soup

For a New Yorker, Annalena has a very bad relationship with apple cider.  She HATES it. She does not see the point of apple cider donuts.  Drinking the stuff makes her feel like she's having cough syrup.  Now, this does not apply to the very dry, alcoholic versions, that are almost like beer.  She admits to being able to swill a few bottles of those, on her own, with no trouble.  

This is all as relevant as anything is on this site, because of her package from her new "pseudo" CSA.  With her CSA ending, Annalena joined a program where they put together a box of various and sundry "bests" for you, and deliver it, once a week.  This week, there was  a quart of apple cider in the box.

Now, Annalena knew of the cider, and figured she would cross her fingers and serve it at Thanksgiving in case anyone wanted it, and that would be the end of it.

However, this company (quinciple, by the way), includes recipes  that are easy, very easy, and ridiculously easy.  In the box was a pound of gold top turnips.  Unlike gold top socks, these turnips are edible, sweet, and indeed, far less "mustardy" than the standard  turnip you will buy.

Annalena LOVES her turnips.  And she had (past tense here), plenty of them in her refrigerator, waiting for their turn to be served forth.    So now she had more.  AND... one of the recipes in the box, was a soup built on turnips, with apple cider as the broth.

She read through it.  Couldn't quite believe it, and read it again.  Hmmm.  And since she was heading in to get the muck of her workout off of her (Melissa had killed her that day), she could do this.  She doubled the recipe, and is glad she did.  And she'll make it again.  So should you. Perhaps for your Thanksgiving repast (a soup is ALWAYS nice, ragazzi), perhaps for after when you want something lighter.   Here we go.  You will not believe how easy this is.

Get two pounds of turnips, whatever type they are.  You could probably also mix in some kohlrabi if you had it, or replace the turnips with the kohlrabi.  Wash them, get the tops off (the stem end), and then cut everything into smallish, half inch chunks.  Do the same with a peeled, red onion (probably best to stick with a red onion here, for sweetness and depth of flavor).  Dump these onto a baking sheet, pour 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil over them, put the tray in the oven at 400, and roast for 20-30 minutes or so.  Check for tenderness.  That's your mark that they're done.

Ok, here's where the cider comes in.  Get those veggies, and a pint of cider, into a blender.  You can do this in batches if you need to.  Pulse it on the puree setting, until you get a nice, creamy consistency.  It is POSSIBLE that you will need, or want, some water.  You may not, and then it will be thicker, and the apple sweetness more pronounced.

DONE.  Really, you are.   You aren't going to get a whole lot out of this:  Annalena got about 5.5 cups of soup, without adding the water.    She would feel comfortable going to 6 cups if she had to.  Now, the original recipe called for adding thin slices of pear to this. Annalena is not going to do that.  Rather, she will float some sourdough croutons on hers, and she and the Guyman will eat it for lunch this weekend.

See.  Now THAT was a painless way to start your meal, if you're going to cook it this year.  And if you are, Annalena salutes you and wishes you the best.  Feel free to pilfer her blog, for whatever recipes you like.  We share here. Just let her know how they work out.