Roasted Winter Vegetable Soup -- spiced up

"Any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field."

Who in the frickin blue blistering barnacles drafted this thing ? It is so dang complicated, I don't even have something concrete to base my argument upon.
Who brought on this topic about gender equality and equal opportunity ?

Yeah, please Sir/Ma'm,  I want some amendments.

All that equal opportunity has done for me is to make me work outside the home, inside the home, in the periphery of home and everywhere foreseeable. I have been given enough opportunity to work. Thank you.

Now I want the finer points ironed out. Like who gets the opportunity to fold the laundry or say pack lunch or plan dinner every night ? Whose fundamental freedom is it to watch Hulu while the kids are being taken care of ? Who gets the opportunity to be depressed when the baby says "Mummy four o clock e asbe" every single day ? Who has the exclusive rights to check and sign homework every night ? Who gets the "once in a lifetime" opportunity  to research & pick the nearest, cheapest Taekwondo center/Gymboree/Swim Class/some class in town ?

If in simple English, maybe bullet points, someone could take care of these, and in printed letters put it to UN or where ever you do such stuff, I would be ever obliged.

Ok, I am having had a bad day, so what ?

* The UN has intervened since this was drafted (on Monday) and some sort of a treaty has been reached but I want a signed official document.

Fall is practically Winter to my tropical soul, the kind of Winters I like, mild, pleasant with the sun on your back, and cold enough to bring out the woolens. But it getting colder and windier and a sweater is not enough.

Everyday that my Dad calls he asks, whether we need a jacket outside. "Yes, we do", BS says. My Dad sighs and grumbles about how difficult the cold must be for the kids. They don't mind all that much, except for the winter jacket. Yeah they don't like winter jackets and we are not yet discussing mittens and scarves.

A bowl of warm soup with the colorful winter vegetables warms up the heart though. It is a perfect way to welcome the cold.With some bread brushed with olive oil this made a lovely Sunday night dinner, a calm end to an otherwise hectic weekend. BS loved it and had two small bowls, though LS insisted that "Ami soup khai na"(I don't drink soup).

I don't know where or how I came up with this soup. It all started off with the lone sweet potato and then I was inspired by my previous Moroccan Lentil Soup.


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Serves 4, measurements are eyeballed

Roasted Winter Vegetable Soup

Peel and roughly chop 1 sweet potato, 1 small-ish beet root and half of an yellow squash, ok any squash, ok, ok no squash

Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Arrange flat on a baking tray and bake at 400F for 30 minutes till you see the veggies shrivel a little.. These are my small toaster oven settings

Heat Olive Oil in a deep stock pot

Add half a cup of chopped onion. Saute till onions are soft and translucent.

Add 2 tsp of fresh ginger-garlic paste and fry for half a minute. Add one small peeled tomato along with some juice. I used canned else chop one small.

Add 1/2 cup of chopped baby carrots(or regular). Cook till carrots are soft.

Add the roasted vegetables. Wash and add about 1/3 cup of Red lentils

In a skillet dry roast 1-2 tsp of cumin and then grind to a fine powder. I usually do a whole batch of this and store it in an air tight jar. Add 1 heaped tsp of roasted cumin powder and 1/2 tsp of dry ginger powder to the stock pot. Add a dash of adobo chile powder(optional). Ok, honestly you do not need adobo chile powder. What does adobo have to do with this soup anyway. It is just that I have a bottle of it and wanted to use it 'coz it sounds nice. No pressure.
Give everything a good stir and saute for a minute or two.

Add enough water and salt to taste.Cover and cook till lentils and vegetables are done. Squeeze a little lime juice and adjust seasonings to taste.

Puree with an immersion blender. Season with fresh ground black pepper.

Serve with some crusty bread or enjoy a warm bowl by itself.

More Heart Warming Soups:

Oven Roasted Tomato Soup

Healthy Moong Bean Soup

Thai Vegetable Soup

Salsa Soup

Moroccan Lentil and Carrot soup