A Triumph of Vegetables: Beet and Carrot Soup

A year or so ago and read this terrific book called French Kids Eat Everything.  It is all about helping your kids learn to love eating all kinds of food.  I was inspired not only for my future children, but also for me.  I spent many, many years of my life being extremely picky (sorry mom!), and just in the last two or so years having really branched out to try new things.  Our CSA subscription has helped a lot with that, by landing us with weird vegetables every other week and living with the world's least picky person may have helped too.  One of the vegetables that I was extremely concerned about when we got it in the box was red beets.  They were brownish, tasted like dirt and had a weird texture.  But every time I would eat them, I would think about French Kids Eat Everything and how parents have their kids try a food item 8-10 times in different forms and eventually, they will learn to like it it.  So I tried about 6 different recipes with beets and had varying levels of success.  I found that if I disguised the beets by shredding them into spring rolls, a salad or a stir fry I was willing to eat them, but I wanted to find something that I would really enjoy the beet flavor in.  This recipe is it.  Dare I call it divine?  Because I thought it was.  Creamy, rich, slightly fluffy with a great flavor. Add a dollop of plain yogurt and a little black pepper to the top and you have yourself a terrific soup.  

Beet and Carrot Soup:
Recipe by Landen

4 or 5 medium to large red beets, in 1/2" cubes
2 tbs olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cups of broth
3 small carrots, chopped
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 oz of cream cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Peel and chop the beets into 1/2" cubes.  Pour 1 tablespoon of olive oil onto a rimmed baking sheet and toss the beets until they are coated.  Lightly salt and pepper and cook in the oven for an hour, checking periodically and flipping with a spatula for even cooking.  Once the beets are soft enough to pierce easily with a fork, remove from the oven and let cool.
Saute onion in 1 tablespoon of olive oil on medium heat.  Once onion begins to brown, add 2 cups of broth, chopped beets and carrot pieces and increase heat to high.  Once mixture has reached a boil, turn down the heat to medium temperature and allow to cook for 15 or 20 minutes until carrots are soft.  Add 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup cream.  Stir and then pour into the blender and add the cream cheese.  Blend until smooth.
Salt and Pepper to taste