Winter Vegetable Soup with Smoked Trout

Every week, Caroline Wright creates simple, civilized recipes for Food52 that feed four -- for under $20, in under 20 minutes.

Today: A vegetable soup that can stand alone.

Winter larder vegetables -- like parsnips, rutabagas and celery root -- are incredible. They are these huge sources of aromatic flavor that can practically hibernate in the drawer of your refrigerator, so that a quick soup like this one is always easy to whip up. To make the soup a bit less humble, top it with some smoked trout, as I’ve suggested here, or perhaps some chopped herbs and a drizzle of oil. Paired with a hunk of warm crusty bread, this soothing soup is a balance of bitter, sweet and smoky that will fill you up in a flash.

Winter Vegetable Soup with Smoked Trout

1/2 small celery root (1 cup), peeled and sliced 
2 medium parsnips (2 cups) , peeled and sliced 
1/2 small rutabaga (1 cup), peeled and sliced 
1 quart chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg, plus more for garnish
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon lemon juice
4 ounces smoked trout, pulled apart into pieces
Toasted and buttered country bread slices, for serving 

See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.

As a freelance food writer and cook, I first wrote this style of recipe as a column on my blog, The Wright Recipes, as an excuse to cook good food for my friends in a quick and simple way. 

Twenty-Dollar, Twenty-Minute™ Meals grew into a cookbook that was published by Workman in May 2013. The recipes found here are original, made especially for Food52 to once again celebrate simple food with friends.

Photo by Caroline Wright