I like carrot soup. The basic version goes like this:
Get some carrots and chunk them into chunks. I always eyeball this, and it depends how big of carrots you're talking about, but I'd go somewhere from 4-6 carrots per person.
Optional: If you have the time/energy and you feel like it, you can roast them to develop their flavor (drizzle with a smidge of oil and bake about half an hour at 400F, stirring once at the halfway point). But about half the time I don't bother.
Mince some onion--say about half an onion per 2 people. If you have some celery hanging around, mince about a stalk of that per 2 people; if you don't, skip it.
Dump the carrots, onion, and optional celery in a soup pot. Add some kind of broth (I've used both chicken and vegetable, and packaged is fine) such that the total volume gets to about the amount of soup you want to eat. Salt to taste.
This is the point at which you can get creative. Garlic rarely goes amiss. I've made a nice soup with carrots and about an inch per person of fresh ginger (grated). Cumin is good. Chiles of all kinds are good (I am partial to chipotles). An apple, peeled and cut into quarters, gives a nice taste. So does chunks of squash. Nutmeg is good. Rosemary, too. Various curry-type spices are excellent. Oh, and I've made a nice miso-carrot soup before. Frankly, any seasoning that would go with carrots should go just fine here, and this is a soup that is ripe for experimentation. (Although if you're going to add lemon or lime juice, save it until after the cooking, so its flavor doesn't get dulled.)
If you want to start with basics, though, a nice way to start is a bit of garlic, a fairly generous amount of ginger, and a bit of dairy at the end.
Simmer until the carrots are falling-apart tender. Puree (or, for that matter, mash enthusiastically with a potato masher). This is the point at which you would add lemon or lime juice, if you so desire. Also, if you like soups creamy, you can add a bit of yogurt, or sour cream, or half-and-half. Taste and adjust seasonings.
I like it equally well cold or hot.
This is a pretty difficult recipe to mess up; about the only thing you can do to it is put in too much salt or something, and even then you can just increase the number of carrots/amount of broth to dilute it (and hey, leftovers). It's also pretty easy to fine-tune: if it's coming out too thick, add more broth; too thin, add more carrots.
It also keeps well, and freezes well, if you want to make a big batch and save it for later. If you do that and plan to eat it hot, don't add dairy (if you want to put dairy in it) until after you thaw and reheat it, so that the dairy won't curdle during reheating.
no subject
Get some carrots and chunk them into chunks. I always eyeball this, and it depends how big of carrots you're talking about, but I'd go somewhere from 4-6 carrots per person.
Optional: If you have the time/energy and you feel like it, you can roast them to develop their flavor (drizzle with a smidge of oil and bake about half an hour at 400F, stirring once at the halfway point). But about half the time I don't bother.
Mince some onion--say about half an onion per 2 people. If you have some celery hanging around, mince about a stalk of that per 2 people; if you don't, skip it.
Dump the carrots, onion, and optional celery in a soup pot. Add some kind of broth (I've used both chicken and vegetable, and packaged is fine) such that the total volume gets to about the amount of soup you want to eat. Salt to taste.
This is the point at which you can get creative. Garlic rarely goes amiss. I've made a nice soup with carrots and about an inch per person of fresh ginger (grated). Cumin is good. Chiles of all kinds are good (I am partial to chipotles). An apple, peeled and cut into quarters, gives a nice taste. So does chunks of squash. Nutmeg is good. Rosemary, too. Various curry-type spices are excellent. Oh, and I've made a nice miso-carrot soup before. Frankly, any seasoning that would go with carrots should go just fine here, and this is a soup that is ripe for experimentation. (Although if you're going to add lemon or lime juice, save it until after the cooking, so its flavor doesn't get dulled.)
If you want to start with basics, though, a nice way to start is a bit of garlic, a fairly generous amount of ginger, and a bit of dairy at the end.
Simmer until the carrots are falling-apart tender. Puree (or, for that matter, mash enthusiastically with a potato masher). This is the point at which you would add lemon or lime juice, if you so desire. Also, if you like soups creamy, you can add a bit of yogurt, or sour cream, or half-and-half. Taste and adjust seasonings.
I like it equally well cold or hot.
This is a pretty difficult recipe to mess up; about the only thing you can do to it is put in too much salt or something, and even then you can just increase the number of carrots/amount of broth to dilute it (and hey, leftovers). It's also pretty easy to fine-tune: if it's coming out too thick, add more broth; too thin, add more carrots.
It also keeps well, and freezes well, if you want to make a big batch and save it for later. If you do that and plan to eat it hot, don't add dairy (if you want to put dairy in it) until after you thaw and reheat it, so that the dairy won't curdle during reheating.