I Heart Sunchokes.

I've been buying these big 3-pound bags of organic root vegetables from my Co-op lately that should really be called "Soup in a Bag." The roots are from Harmony Valley Farm in Viroqua, Wisconsin and are "grown in the fertile soil, clean air and pure water of our beautiful valley, by our family, for yours."

There is always a variety of vegetables in the bag, including: seasonal variations of carrots (red, yellow, orange), turnips (purple top or sweet scarlet), parsnips, rutabagas, celeriac, and/or sunchokes.
Sunchokes. A weird looking little root vegetable (12 o'clock in the photo above) that I never would have purchased separately, but now adore. Who would have thought?

Here's the soup recipe from the back of the bag, courtesy of Brenda Langton (of Cafe Brenda fame):

Golden Potage Soup

• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 8 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 bag soup mix, chopped into 1" pieces (or 3 lbs of root vegetables of your choice)
• 6 cups vegetable stock
• 3/4 cup half-n-half

--Saute onions in oil.
--Add chopped roots and garlic; saute for 10 minutes.
--Add vegetable stock and bring to a simmer.
--Simmer until vegetables are tender, or approximately 30 minutes.
--Cool soup to lukewarm, then puree in blender in small amounts until smooth.
--Whisk in half-n-half and return to a simmer just to heat thoroughly before serving.

(I also added diced celery, a few potatoes, salt, pepper and thyme.)

The best part? Jackson loves this soup! Don't tell him he's eating vegetables though, or all bets may be off.