GINGERY CREAM OF CARROT SOUP

For the last 2 weeks the weather here in Charlotte has been awful.Cold,more cold,some sleet,some snow,then rain and more rain and much more rain.Do I sound like a weatherman?Well I feel like one.Seeing the weather forecast everyday hoping the sun will come out and all miseries will go away.To top it this year the groundhog predicted 6 more weeks of winter brrrrrr.I can understand people staying up north must be thinking why this complaining about cold weather,but you need to understand...we southies hate grey skies.That was always one benefit I could count when I moved from ever drizzling Seattle.
                Well this God awful weather can either force you to eat comfort food which can be fried stuff,pakoras,chaat etc or you can go the healthy way,have some hot soup,Garlic bread etc.
The Carrot soup is easy to make and is sinful.  Althought trust me my first try at making carrot soup was a disaster.This was more than a year back,my DH was recovering from flu.I made the blah version of the carrot soup and he said"it tastes like blended gajar ka halwa without sugar".Ha ha ha.Men have the same way of describing food as kids,don't you agree?But this did not deter me and my quest for good carrot soup recipe lead me to a recipe which is a mix this and that.Well here it comes.



















INGREDIENTS
7 cups chicken, or vegetable stock
2 pounds fresh carrots, peeled
1 big yellow onion
1 leek, sliced in half lengthwise and thoroughly cleaned
4 stalks celery
2 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil
1 (3-inch) piece fresh ginger root, peeled and grated
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp Italian Seasonings(optional)
Salt and pepper to paste


DIRECTIONS
1.Cut all the vegetables(except ginger) into 1/2 inch pieces.
2.Roughly chop or grate the ginger root.
3.In a heavy bottomed stock pan, over medium-high heat,1 tblsp of Olive Oil.
4.Saute vegetables with ginger and nutmeg for approximately 15 minutes, or until vegetables are browned.
5.Add remaining olive oil as needed.
6.Add vegetable stock to the vegetables and let them cook(covered) for 30 mins on medium heat.
7.Let cool to room temperature and then puree in a blender. Soup should be thick and smooth. If you like your soup velvety smooth, pour through a fine mesh strainer.
8.After straining the soup,pour it again in the stock pan and let it boil,add Salt,Black pepper,Red pepper flakes and Italian seasonings(optional).
9.Serve hot with Garlic Bread or for something hearty Bruschetta or Focaccia Bread.
'njoy!!!









This goes to Usha for her Healthy Inspirations Event and to Suma for her event "Healing Foods-Carrots" and to Siri who started this wonderful roundup.

4 comments:

Pooja said...

hummm....yummy...perfect for the season!!!

Usha said...

Thanks for sharing this beautiful cream of carrot soup with the healthy inspirations event. I loved the color of this soup and the great combination of carrot and ginger .

Suma Gandlur said...

Thanks for sending over such lovely soup.

Torviewtoronto said...

Beautiful colour

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