by Sarah Paxson
My husband and I took a mini-vacation to Emerald Isle, which entailed a lot more eating out than we're accustomed to. (Read: NEVER.) Eating out always leaves me feeling blah, so to get our bodies back on track I made Carrot Apple Ginger Soup. Ginger is known for having various medicinal properties like circulatory stimulant, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antibacterial, and besides... it's tasty.
First you have to peel and cut 1.5 pounds of carrots. I'd recommend taking the carrots out of the fridge an hour or so before you cut them. I didn't and my fingers were like ICE CUBES. You'll also have to peel and dice one small onion and an apple, mince two cloves of garlic, and grate two tablespoons worth of ginger.
Sautee the chopped onions until translucent, then add garlic and ginger for a couple more minutes (on low). This will fill your kitchen with a delicious smell-- who needs candles! Next, add the apples and the carrots and cook for a little while longer. Next, I added the broth and brought it to a boil.
At this point the soup looks a little boring... like a boring chunky stew. But wait! I used my handy little immersion blender (a regular blender will work, as well) to blend the soup. It took a few minutes to blend but before I knew it...
....VOILA! The most beautiful colored soup you can imagine!
Carrot Apple Ginger Soup Lightly adapted from Joy The Baker.
Yield: 5 cups
Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil + more for garnish
- 1 small onion, diced (1 cup diced onion)
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tbsp fresh grated ginger
- 1 large apple
- 1.5 pounds carrots, peeled and chopped (~5 cups)
- 4 cups vegetable broth (I used full sodium)
- pinch of nutmeg
- Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Directions:
1. In a large pot, add 1 tbsp olive oil over low-medium heat. Add chopped onion and cook for about 5 minutes until translucent. Add minced garlic and ginger and cook for another couple minutes on low. Add chopped apple and carrots and cook for a few minutes more.
2. Add the vegetable broth, stir, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low-medium and simmer for 20 minutes, or until tender.
3. Carefully transfer this mixture into a blender (or you can use an immersion blender probably), add a pinch of nutmeg, and blend until smooth. You might need to do this in 2 batches depending on the size of your blender. You don’t want the soup more than halfway full or it might explode through the top. Make sure to allow steam to escape through the top of the blender lid too.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste. You can also thin the soup out a bit with more broth. Serve and garnish with freshly ground pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. It goes lovely with fresh bread and Earth Balance. Makes 5 delicious cups!