1 small onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 potato, chopped in small cubes
3-5 beets, thinly sliced and chopped into strips
2 carrots, chopped
1 small cabbage, diced in 1/2in. strips
6cups vegetable broth
1 can tomato puree or tomato sauce
2-3 bay leaves
1/4 – 1/2 cup red table wine OR red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Saute onions, garlic and celery until onions are translucent. Add in potato, carrots beets and bay leaves and sautee a few minutes more. Add in vegetable broth and tomato sauce; when it comes to a boil add in the cabbage. Let the pot simmer until root vegetables are tender. Fish out bay leaves and blend some or all of the soup. Add in red wine to taste and let cook down about 5 minutes.
Serve with yogurt.

Here are a couple alternatives.

The original recipes (from the new Moosewood Cookbook)
2cups dry beans, soaked
4cups water
1Tbs. olive oil
3cups chopped onion
10 medium cloves of garlic
2tsp. cumin
2tsp. salt
1 medium carrot, diced
1 medium bell pepper, diced
1.5cups orange juice
black pepper to taste
cayenne to taste
optional: 2 medium tomatoes, diced

Place the beans in a Dutch oven with 4 cups water. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer until simmer (about an hour and a quarter).
Heat olive oil in a medium size skillet. Saute onions and half of the garlic. Add carrots and a small amount of water and let that cook until the carrots are tender. Add bell pepper, cumin, salt and the rest of the garlic. Saute until everything is tender and add this vegetable mixture to the beans.
Stir in orange juice, black pepper, cayenne and tomatoes. Puree some or all of the soup in a blender or food processor. Continue to simmer over very low heat for 15 minutes more. Serve with a dallop of sour cream, fresh cilantro and a bit of salsa.

The easy way (modified from the same recipe)
Replace the dry black beans with 2 cans of black beans (check for the lowest sodium you can find!). Saute the vegetables as directed above, but in a large stock pot. When the vegetables are tender, add in the 2 cans of beans (liquid included) plus about 1.5 cups of vegetable or chicken stock. Add in orange juice, and a can of diced petite tomatoes (liquid included). Continue to cook as described in the above recipe.

For a nice touch, I like to add in about 2in. of ginger which I cook the same as the garlic – half alongside the onions and half with the bell peppers.

1 medium size butternut
veggie stock
milk
1in. of fresh grated ginger
1/2ts. cinnamon
1/4tsp. nutmeg
1/8tsp. ground cloves

Cut butternut in half and remove seeds. Bake at 325F for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven, allow to cool and then peel, chop into 1in. cubes and place in a pan with veggie broth to simmer until tender. Move some or all of butternut to a food processor to be pureed. Add in ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Add in as much veggie broth and milk to make the soup the consistency you wish. Turn burner down as far as it will go and allow soup to stay warm until ready to be served.

While the soup is cooking down, peel and chop 2 parsnips and 2 beets.
Steam beats and parsnips until almost tender – as the beats will take much longer, begin them first and add in the parsnips when the beats are almost done. Remove from steamer basket and place into a skillet with about a Tbs. of butter, and 1tsp. rosemary and 1/2tsp thyme. Let stir fry until completely tender.

Ladel soup into a bowl, add seasoned root vegetables in the center, top with carmelized onions. Top with plain yogurt if desired.