Winter Solstice Soup

What does this picture of my house covered in snow make you want to eat? Soup!

This weekend we got a pretty intense snowstorm. We ended up with almost two feet of snow! I love snow and winter so needless to say I was thrilled. It's so nice to have snow on the ground, considering today is winter solstice! Luckily I had gone grocery shopping on Friday and missed most of the crowds (whenever it snows around here people seem to feel the need to stock up like the apocalypse is coming) and got plenty of stuff to cook and bake with. Tonight I was in the mood for a thick, creamy soup. You might remember the the soup recipe I posted a little while back that was going to be carrot soup but turned into carrot and butternut squash soup. Tonight, I went for the carrot soup that I originally intended. This soup is so thick and rich that you will never miss the cream. Serve it with a big slice of crusty bread for dipping.

Carrot Ginger Soup
-olive oil
-1 onion, diced
-4 cloves garlic, minced
-2 tbsp freshly grated ginger
-1 tbsp cumin
-1 tbsp coriander
-1 tbsp turmeric
-1 tbsp paprika
-salt and pepper
-2 1/2 lbs carrots, peeled and chopped
-5 cups vegetable stock
-1 15 oz can coconut milk

-Coat the bottom of a large pot with olive oil and heat on medium.
-Add the onion and cook for 5-6 minutes, until translucent.
-Add the garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes.
-Add all the spices and carrots and stir to coat. Season with salt and pepper.
-Add the vegetable stock to the pot, and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 25 minutes, or until the carrots are fork tender.
-Remove the soup from the heat. Using an immersion blender (or regular blender, taking care not to overfill or seal the lid while blending), puree the soup until very smooth. Add the coconut milk as you puree. If the soup is too thick, you can add a bit of water as needed.
-Put the soup back over low heat to warm back through, and serve.

More Soup

After making the Asian hot pot over the weekend, I started craving a thick, creamy, blended soup. So tonight, I planned on making carrot ginger soup. Then I remembered I not only had carrots on hand, but I had about half a butternut squash already chopped up (extra from another meal a few days ago). I figured I ought to use it, so I decided to add that to the soup too. I also had about a third of a loaf of (what was) fresh whole wheat bread. It was a little too far gone for slicing and toasting for dipping so instead I made some croutons. It added a nice crunch to the smooth soup.

Coconut Ginger Carrot Squash Soup
(If anyone can think of a shorter name for this, it would be appreciated!)

-olive oil
-1 medium onion, chopped
-4 garlic cloves, minced
-half a large butternut squash, cubed
-10 large carrots, chopped
-2 tbsp freshly grated ginger
-4 cups vegetable stock
-salt and pepper
-1 15 oz. can coconut milk

-Heat some olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for about 5 minutes, until they are getting tender.
-Add the garlic and cook for about 2 minutes, until fragrant.
-Add the squash, carrots, and ginger. Stir to combine and distribute the ginger, and season with salt and pepper.

-Add the vegetable stock. Bring the soup to a boil, then simmer for 20-25 minutes, until the vegetables are fork tender. Turn off the heat.
-Using an immersion blender*, blend the soup until smooth. As you blend, add the coconut milk.
-Put the soup back over the heat until it's hot. Serve topped with croutons.

*The immersion blender might be my favorite kitchen tool. It is a must-have if you make a lot of soups. If you don't have one of these wonderful devices, you can blend the soup in a blender. Just be sure to work in batches, don't fill the blender more than half full, and never form a tight seal with the lid over hot blender contents. It could explode, I am not kidding.