Does anyone remember that episode of The Magic School bus when Arnold turned orange and no one could figure out why until they realised that he had eaten too many Sea Weedies with beta carotene? Eating this soup always reminds me of that, because it’s 99% carrots and not much else. When I was a kid, turning orange seemed pretty cool. Now, I associate orange with someone extremely unpleasant and would like to avoid that as much as possible.
All that to say, this soup is light, fresh, gingery and nothing at all like Mr Trump, but beware of eating too much of it.
You’ll need a bunch of carrots, a big piece of ginger, a large onion, a few potatoes, garlic, and some spices.
Start by peeling and chopping all your carrots into 1/2 inch pieces (doesn’t have to be precise). The smaller you cut the carrots the more prep for you but the faster the carrots will cook. So you can decide. I’m all about freedom.
Dice up an onion
Some garlic, and a bunch of ginger (pretend there is a photo of ginger here – I completely forgot to take one)
In a large pot add some coconut oil.
Add the onion, garlic, and ginger and cook over low heat until onions are translucent.
Add the cumin, onion powder, and curry powder, and cook for a few more minutes. Add another tablespoon of coconut oil (or water) if things look a bit dry.
Yum.
Add your diced carrots
And cover with water or vegetable stock. In this recipe I actually prefer to use water because the resulting taste of the soup is very clean and fresh. The main flavor should come from the carrots and ginger and aromatics. Most vegetable stock is made with celery and other herbs which doesn’t lend itself that well to this recipe.
Dice up a few potatoes and add them to the soup for some additional body (and calories, which frankly I need during this fast). You know you’re being pretty hardcore if you feel like you need additional calories.
Bring the soup to a boil. Put a lid on the pot and cook over medium-high heat for 15-20 minutes until carrots are cooked through.
Here’s a tip: if you’re not going to eat the entire pot of soup at that moment, don’t blend it. Scoop out the amount you want to eat and blend that portion separately. Then put the unblended soup in the refrigerator. It’s much easier to re-heat soup that is still watery than soup that has been blended.
Add some coconut milk to taste before serving.
Carrot Ginger Soup (Vegan)
Serves 10
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
2 kg carrots, washed, peeled, and roughly chopped
4 small potatoes, washed, peeled, and roughly chopped
1 large onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 4-inch piece of ginger, minced
3 tbs coconut oil
½ tsp cumin powder
½ tsp curry powder
½ tsp garlic powder
Water or vegetable stock (or a mix of both), enough to cover vegetables
(optional) ½-1 cup coconut milk
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat coconut oil over medium heat and add onion, garlic, and ginger. Cook for 5-10 minutes until onions are translucent.
- Add cumin, curry power, and garlic, and sauté until spices release their fragrance and color.
- Add carrots, potatoes, and cover with water or vegan vegetable stock. Cook over medium heat for 15-20 minutes until carrots and potatoes pierce easily with a fork.
- Blend in a blender or by using an immersion blender.
- Mix in coconut milk (if using) before serving.
