A crappy phonecam pic of the soup is better than no pic at all, right?

1 onion
3 cloves garlic
5-6 cups broth
2 potatoes
small yam
3-4 parsnips
1/2 cup sliced cabbage
1 carrot
1 or 2 teaspoons lemon juice

Bay leaves
Thyme
salt and pepper

Boil broth with bay leaves. (I used water and bullion for 4 cups water.)

Cut up the potatoes, in a lot of different sizes and add them early, when the water starts to boil. The big ones will be chucks in the soup, but the small bits will cook in, making the broth thicker and richer. Leave on skins- they are flavorful and nutritious.

Sauteed ingredients: (I like to saute soup ingredients, it adds a lot to the flavor, and this was no exception.) Sweat or saute onions in clarified butter, and when they’re close to done, add garlic. Add these first. Slice the yam thinly and sauteed it in the remaining butter. Set aside. Peel and slice the parsnips at an angle, saute and set aside.

I don’t saute cabbage or carrots, but what the heck, try it if you want to. Add the ingredients in this order, times are approximate:

Bay leaves/bullion (if using it) – from cold
Potatoes- from boiling
Onions and garlic – 12 minutes later
Sliced yam/cabbage – 5 minutes later
Parsnips – 10 minutes later
Carrots/Thyme – 5 minutes later

Let this go for another 5-10 minutes, and test the broth. If it’s too sweet, and it likely will be, add lemon juice until it balances. (Root veggies have a lot of sugar, and caramelizing them makes them taste a lot more interesting. But the sweetness can be overwhelming in a soup, hence the lemon.)

Salt and pepper to taste. Eat.