Why Not Soup?

Sourced from: thekitchen.com

Joey and I had his dad's white bean soup this sunday. It was an easy meal to make and it was delicious! At The Kitchen they have some nice and simple soup ideas. Why don't you try one of these out this week?

Creamy Carrot Soup

I wanted to make an Asian inspired noodle dish with chicken, vegetables, buckwheat noodles and an improvised peanut sauce. I felt like it should have carrots in it and I decided to get those huge carrots pictured. It was great because the carrots were so large I was able to slice them into paper thin circles that looked quite fetching in the dish. I saw though, that I would need one carrot at most, so I quickly decided that I would also make carrot soup. I finished making it today and it came out sweet, creamy and subtly spiced.

Here is what I used:

About four cups of cubed carrots, about a 1/4 inch in length

An inch of minced ginger

A serrano pepper, quartered and hulled

A cup of chicken stock

For later:

A pint of light cream

A quarter cup of maple syrup

I am guessing the measurements here, as I eyeballed the whole thing. Basically I prepared the vegetables and cooked them with the stock in the slow cooker for a few hours until the carrots were so tender they offered no resistance to the poke of a fork. In the morning I put the cooked carrots in the fridge.

When I came home I poured the vegetables into the blender and pureed them on high, afterwards blending them on the slow function. I also took out the cream and let it rest outside of the fridge for a bit. I wanted to avoid shocking the cream with the heat when I warmed up the puree.

Then I pressed the puree through a sieve (a.k.a my colander). After that I poured it into a heavy pot and lit a very low flame beneath. I poured the cream over it and then the maple syrup. I stirred it gently until just incorporated, covered and let it heat for about 15-20 minutes. When the center of the pot was just bubbling I turned off the heat. The texture was completely smooth, creamy and sweet, with a savory finish that barely hinted at the bite you normally expect from chillies and ginger.

The idea here is really basic, but no less delicious for being so. I hope this inspires you to make a creamy vegetable soup, whether it is your own or your take on this. Enjoy!

The vegetables before I added the stock and turned the slow cooker on.