Carrot Soup

This past weekend, Mark and I hosted a reunion of sorts with a few good friends who have not had a meal together in far too long. It was sort of a spur of the moment thing, so I didn't have long to plan, shop, and cook for 6. I decided on soup, since it is an easy, economical way to feed a crowd (and we all know how much i love soup in general). I also had a vegan guest, and soup is an easy way to accommodate that. After trolling through a number of carrot soup recipes online, everywhere from vegweb.com to martha stewart's website, I concocted a recipe that I thought would turn out the best. I was a bit apprehensive about trying out a new recipe for so many guests, but I figured that it would be exceptionally difficult to make a recipe with these ingredients taste bad. This recipe fed 5 hungry boys and myself, and there was about a serving and a half left over.

CURRY/GINGER/COCONUT CARROT SOUP
-olive oil
-1 onion, chopped
-3 cloves garlic, chopped
-2 pounds carrots, scrubbed and chopped (no need to peel them, the skin is full of vitamins)
-1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
-4 cups vegetable stock, low sodium
-1.5 cups coconut milk
-salt and pepper
-1.5 heaping tsp coriander
-1.5 heaping tsp cumin
-1 scant tsp turmeric
-.5 scant tsp cayenne pepper

-Cook the garlic and onion in the olive oil over medium heat until soft, about 5 minutes.
-Add the carrots, cook for about 3 minutes.
-Add the spices and grated ginger. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
-Add the veggie stock, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat in order to maintain a simmer, and cook for 30 minutes, until the carrots are tender.
-Take soup off the heat, cool for about 10 minutes, and proceed with blending the soup in small batches. REMEMBER! Never fill the blender more than halfway and never seal the blender lid when working with hot liquids! Bad things happen, like explosions!
-Once soup is all blended and returned to a soup pot, put it back over medium heat and stir in the coconut milk. Get soup hot again and serve.

One of my guests commented on the fact that he was a little nervous about a carrot soup initially, but really liked it after all. I can see why. The flavors in this soup are bright and the texture is silky. Even the color is great. The coconut milk adds a much needed fat to the soup and makes for a nice consistency, but doesn't weigh it down. Add another soup recipe to your fall repertoire!