Carrot Soup for the Soul

I began to smell the fresh berries wafting through the air a few blocks away from the market. The summer sunshine has this wonderful way of extracting the most fragrant aromas from the produce. Today was an unusually humid day. One of those days where you can just feel the sky longing to be filled with heavy rain clouds to give the sunshine a break. I was taking a walk to pick up a few things up for dinner from the Greenmarket in Union Square. To my surprise, I found the carrots particularly engaging today even though my senses were all consumed by the aroma of fresh summery herbs and berries with every step I took. Boasting their luminous scent-free glory, the carrots definitely ended up being the most alluring prospect of all of the produce at the market. Not that there's anything wrong with eating carrots, they are a wonderful vegetable-- full of antioxidant compounds as well as a notable source of vitamin A carotenes (carotenes are great for the immune system). Needless to say, carrots have an inherent sweet burst of flavor when cooked which certainly makes up for their lack of aroma in the raw form. Oh, and have I mentioned that my shocking attraction to carrots is also the result of my tragic love affair with carrot ginger soup.....

Ginger and carrots are two of my most cherished ingredients’. The weather this past autumn was very erratic and I found myself drawn to the comfort of warm, homemade soup. The sultry combination of carrots and ginger, combined with aromatic spices lit my soul on fire, creating a marriage I could never grow tired of. The soup also happened to be incredibly healthy and very easy to re-heat on the stove for lunches or a quick snack. Aside from the brilliant benefits of carotenes, ginger provides a great deal of gastrointestinal relief and is a great anti-inflammatory. Ginger provides a fantastic warming effect, which is not only comforting, but also helps aid the body with a detoxification process. In addition, the soup boasts a fair amount of cumin, which is great for digestion and also provides a good source of trace minerals—including iron. At times, I would long for creaminess and occasionally opted for adding or garnishing my soup with yogurt, providing extra protein. I began having cravings for this soup and soon went from eating it a few times per week, to as often as possible.

A few of my friends commented that my skin was boasting a novel healthy glow. It was a great compliment, seeing as my skin had not seen sunshine in quite sometime. At the time, I didn't equate it with the carrots, in particular. I had also begun drinking carrot juice in the morning in an attempt to wean myself from espresso. I happened to really love the carrot juice. It was easy, delicious, and provided my system with great energy. I also happened to be eating my favorite soup as often as possible. I suppose I hadn’t realized the amount of carrots I was actually consuming until a girlfriend of mine asked me why I hadn’t tried lemon juice to remove the sunless tanner from hands. I became confused (mostly due to the fact that I do not use a sunless tanner) and looked down at my palms, which, to my surprise, were certainly a shade of orange. My palms, feet, face, well, my entire body, were in fact radiant—a radiant hue of orange. I had never imagined that, as a result of eating far too may carrots, I would indeed turn into a carrot myself!

As a result, it would take a few months of green juices, as well as an absolutely carrot-free lifestyle, to regain my previous orange free skin tone. That will have to be another story entirely.

So today, mid-July, I’ve found myself with an extraordinary yearning for that delicious carrot sensation I love. I confronted my internal discourse and came to the conclusion that I should listen to my body. In this case, my body was saying, “it was time for carrots.”

I stopped at the grocery market to pick up the necessary ingredients for carrot ginger soup. During my walk home, it began to rain. The humidity had broken and a cool breeze accompanied the rain. I couldn’t think of a better time to be enjoying my forever loved, soul warming soup.

Carrot Ginger Soup

Olive Oil or Clarified Butter 

1 Whole Vidalia Onion Sliced 

2-3 Pounds of Carrots

¾ Cup of Honey

Ginger Root Peeled and Chopped (Add more ginger for more spice)

4-5 Cups of good chicken stock

A few Teaspoons of Cumin to taste - toasted and finely ground

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Optional

2 Cups of Good Plain Goat’s Milk Yogurt (Cow’s milk yogurt or sheep’s milk will work just as well, the goat milk creates a creamier soup.)

If using whole cumin, first toast the seeds in the bottom of the pan until they become fragrant. When you begin to smell them, then take them from the heat and finely ground the seeds.

Heat oil or clarified butter in the bottom of large stockpot. Add sliced Vidalia onions and plenty of fresh chopped Ginger. Brown the onion and ginger for several minutes—just until they become a bit translucent. Add a bit of cumin now and then you can add more further on to taste. Add good free-range chicken stock and fill pot with sliced, organic carrots. Make sure carrots are submerged, by at least 1/2" of chicken broth in the pot. Bring pot to a boil, and turn to simmer and cover with a lid until carrots are tender. (You can also add sliced sweet potatoes for a heartier dish). 

Remove from heat and add honey. Using an immersion blender puree the contents of the pot. Add yogurt to the pot. Go slowly and add gradually tasting along the way to achieve your desired creaminess. If you do not have an immersion blender, transferring the contents of the pot to a regular blender or food processor would work out just fine. Add pepper to taste.