Curried Carrot Soup

Day 19: Holy Carotene, Batman!

Tonight, Jay and I watched Julie & Julia and have both decided that while Julia is pretty damn cool, Julie left us unimpressed. No need to trash talk her (there has apparently been well enough of that over the blogosphere in general) but what did impress us was that she cooked 524 French recipes in 365 days and somehow managed to retain a full time job and not get fat. I mean, seriously. If I cooked and ate like that I would probably weigh 365 lbs at the end of the 365 days. So no Pâté de Canard en Croûte for us, instead we have soup. Yes, more soup. Today its more carrot soup, this time an Indian spiced carrot soup. To come up with this recipe I combined about three - two of which were sent by friend Erica (keep em coming guys):

Curried Carrot Soup

1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)

1 medium onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp ginger, minced

2 tbsp curry power

1 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp coriander

a pinch to 1 tsp red pepper flakes (depends on the spice in your curry)

1/2 granny smith apple, diced

3 cups carrots, peeled and sliced

4 cups vegetable broth

1/2 cup milk or nonfat plain yogurt

1 tbsp lime juice

salt and pepper to taste

In a soup pot heat ghee over medium heat and add onions and cook for 5-6 minutes. Add spices, ginger, garlic and apple and cook for 4-5 minutes longer until everything is evenly browned and the spices are aromatic. Add carrots and broth and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes until the carrots are very soft. Take off heat and blend soup with an immersion blender or food processor. Add milk, lime juice, and salt and pepper to taste. I served with naan - recommended.

Jay's review:

4 yums (out of 5)!. He doesn't want to add anything else (it is day 19)

On the Brighter Side

Day 4:

After the heaviness of yesterday's chicken and dumplings we were both craving something light and full of bright vegetables. We thought instantly of carrot soup. There are a myriad of carrot soups out there - I will surely be experimenting with many of them over the next few months. Today, I decided to follow Deborah Madison's (of Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone) advice and combine the sweetness of carrot with some spice. She also recommends adding a small amount of white rice to the soup to add body and prevent the soup from separating. I did this and it did in fact keep the soup from separating in the bowl, but it also added an almost fluffy consistency to my pureed soup. I combined a few recipes to come up with this south-of-the-border inspired carrot soup. I served with simple corn quesadillas. Overall it was a very easy and quick soup to prepare, but not my favorite so far:

Spicy Carrot and Red Pepper Soup

2 tbsp olive oil

1 med onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

2 tsp sweet paprika

a pinch of cayenne

2 dried bay leaves

2 tbsp white rice

1 lb carrots, peeled and diced

1 red pepper, diced

4 cups vegetable stock

salt and pepper to taste

juice of one lime

good quality pepper sauce such as cholula (optional)

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil till onions are soft. Add spices, bay leaves, and rice and cook two or three minutes more. Add chopped vegetables and stock. Bring to a boil and simmer until carrots are very soft and rice is cooked. Using an immersion blender or food processor blend the soup and add lime juice. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a garnish of cholula or tabasco if a spicier soup is desired.

Jay's review:

3.5 yums (out of 5)! Cholula made this a winner. :) 3.0 yums without Guadalajara Goodness.