In the Kitchen: Peggy's Sweet Potato-Parsnip Soup

And for this edition of  In the Kitchen, and speaking of Tony Comstock (which I just did): A week or so ago he tweeted (canNOT believe I'm using that verb...) that his wife, Peggy, was making soup with sweet potato, parsnip, and chicken.

Sounded good to me! So I emailed her to ask for the recipe. Turns out she's also a "Hmmm... what's in the frig?" cook -- and the "recipe" consisted of cooking what was on hand. I made the soup last night. Deeeeeeeeeelicious.

It's a "thin" soup --- consomme-like --- so I decided to round it out with a bit of broiled baguette: Slice a baguette horizontally, butter it, and put it under the flame for about three minutes. The salt in the butter turns ordinary into exquisite. (Assuming, of course, you started with a good baguette.)

Anyway, herewith my version of Peggy's soup, which essentially follows her lead. As always, quantities are up to you:

• one parsnip, peeled and chunked
• one sweet potato, peeled and chunked
• half an onion, minced
• a couple of cloves of garlic (smash 'em if you want to; otherwise just peel and toss into pot)
• a half pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut in bite-size pieces
• a box of frozen spinach, thawed
• 2-3 c. of chicken stock/broth
• big splash of white wine
• salt, pepper

Put everything in a pot. Turn on flame. Cook slowly for an hour or so. Broil that buttered baguette. Pour the wine. Enjoy!