The Fruits of Idle Hands - Part 2

As I mentioned in my last post - on Sunday in a fit of borderline boredom I went nuts creating and cooking. The results were the previously posted apple-cranberry spice cake and the recipe in the post you're currently reading - carrot soup. Both of these were smash hits with the husband, which made me a bit excited since I was flying by the seat of my pants making things I'd never made anything similar to before. In fact, the carrot soup was such a hit that this morning Steve looked at me and said "When are we making carrot soup again? Any answer other than '10 minutes from now' is unacceptable."

Clearly he was joking (we decided on this weekend to prepare for 2 nights of dinners next week). Anyways - I'll get on with it:

Danielle's Carrot Soup 

(Makes 4 servings)

Yummy soup - but Chef Anne Burrell would yell at me for messy bowls.

Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oils
- 4 cups chopped raw carrots
- 1 cup chopped red onions
- 1.5 cups vegetable stock
- 1.5 cups water
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 2 tsp dried basil
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1/2 tsp curry powder

Method:
- In a medium sized pot, heat the EVOO over medium-high heat.
- Add the carrots & onions and saute for about 5-7 minutes until onions begin to become opaque/translucent.
- Add the vegetable stock & water and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and allow to simmer for another 5 minutes or until carrots are fork-tender.
- Add remaining ingredients, stirring until they are fully combined. Allow to simmer for another 1-2 minutes or so to allow flavors to intermingle.
- Remove from heat and let cool for about 5 minutes.
- Pour all ingredients in blender and blend until completely pureed. If it seems a bit thick, add 1/4 cup water and blend again. Note - this should be a thicker soup, we found our perfect consistency to be kind of the same as a thicker tomato bisque would be.
- Serve immediately or refrigerate for future use.

As with any soup, there are things that you can add in to this. We've tested out both some Trader Joe's apple chicken sausage on one night and peas on another night. The peas - I thought - were a perfect addition to the soup, whereas the sausage seemed kind of out of place. We also served this with naan on the side and it was a perfect compliment to the dish. It's a great way to warm your core and I think can easily fall into the "comfort food" category.

Man... I love to cook.

Incase you're interested - the nutrition information for this recipe can be found here: Nutrition Information.

Side note - the sub-moral of the story is that all the watching of cooking shows in my life is seemingly paying off. I'm apparently learning through osmosis what flavor profiles go well together as well as some basics of how to do things.