Easy Carrot Ginger Soup

Well my oh my it's been a while since I updated this blog. Since receiving a few very sweet e-mails from my beautiful blog followers about why I haven't shared any recipes for a while I realized how much I missed my little online bakery. I wish I had a great excuse as to my hiatus. i.e. "I was busy building an orphanage in Haiti!" or "I went back and finally knocked out that PhD!" or "I've started a goat ranch!" But alas, my excuse is not so titillating. I got distracted, and a bit uninspired. But lately I've seen my cooking and writing muse. I saw what I thought was a strange looking bird the other day, and it was actually a little mini baugette wearing cat's eye glasses waving a tiny flag that said "Kala! Bake something!!" before twirling off into the heavens.  So I got out the polka dotted apron and got busy right then and there. 

      So a soup recipe is something I can't  have enough of personally. It's probably because I reside someplace where it's cold well over half the year. This year promised an early spring, full of warmth and garden bliss. But so far it's still cold and nasty-ish. Soup is also really filling and can be very healthy, and swimsuit season is coming regardless of the snowy days we've had. Here's a recipe for a delightfully easy soup that I just love to make that's as beautiful as it is healthy.

Carrot Ginger Soup

-1 T. olive oil

- 1 1/2 cups sweet onion ( Vidalia is great)

-2 pounds carrots, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

-1t. salt

-1/2 t black pepper

-1 t. ground ginger ( or freshly grated)

-2 cups water

-2 cups chicken or vegetable broth

-2 T. heavy cream

- Sprinkling of parsley

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add onion and carrots to pan; cook 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in salt, pepper, and ginger.

2.. Add  water and broth to pan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 25 minutes or until carrots are tender. Remove from heat; cool.

3. Place half of carrot mixture and 1 tablespoon heavy cream in a food processor or blender; process 20 seconds or until smooth. Pour pureed mixture into a large bowl. Repeat procedure with remaining carrot mixture and 1 tablespoon cream. Return mixture to pan; cook over medium heat until thoroughly heated. Garnish with parsley.

I love good old Saltine crackers with my soup a lot of times. This is a rich carrot soup that is satisfying year round. I use t he fresh ginger if its for me, but since that can be a bit strong for some peoples liking you can adjust your amount accordingly. ALWAYS display patience when making a pureed soup unless you have a good process or or behr mixer and wait for it to cool. I tried to puree hot soup in my old cheapie food processor once and almost lost some skin and other worthwhile body parts when the hot stuff flew every direction coming out the top ...

Its good to be back on the blog, I am excited to start sharing some recipes and chatting with you all again in the months to come! Enjoy!