It finally got cold in Philadelphia. Break out the crock pot! You have to wait till it got cold enough to feel the need to "shake off the chill" before you can start making soups and whatnots. Who wants to eat soup in a t-shirt?
And another thing. I'm sick of HEAVY CREAM soups. It's cheating. Why? Because the addition of any fat or any salt to ANYTHING makes it automatically taste better. Sugar is similar, but not as potent. So, if you want insta delish soup, just add tons of salt or heavy cream. But I think it's time we let the ingredients stand for themselves. Seriously, we don't need the calories anyway... we have parkas and heated buildings. If we were Eskimos that'd be a different story. We'd be eating straight whale blubber. But we're not. We write emails, essays, have conference calls, and get lost in black holes searching for answers on Google ... all from our chairs. And to those who don't do this... kudos... you deserve some heavy cream.
So, this is a light, bright carrot soup with enough kick to oust the chill. It's VERY simple, horray!
Ingredients:3 large local carrots
1/4 cup of broth
1/2 of an onion, vidalla would be good
salt to taste
1. Peel the carrots. Look, do yourself a favor and refrain from peeling your carrots into the dishwasher disposal. My former housemate Alison did this and we had to pull a mysterious alien orange mass from beyond the kitchen sink trap 2 weeks later. Then again, she peeled like 10 carrots, not 3. I'm still afraid so I peel straight into the actual garbage.
2. Slice carrots. Medium width is fine.
3. Chop onion into medium-fine pieces
4. Peel ginger then finely chop or grate
5. Dump into a crock pot
6. Add 1/4 cup of broth
7. Add water til it just about covers the mass of veggies
8. Add a few rotations of ground sea salt to the mix
9. Cook on high until the carrots are soft when poked with a fork. (If you don't have a crock pot, simmering on a stove would probably have similar effects.)
10. Remove from pot, put everything into a food processor. Blend until very smooth.
11. Add salt to taste
3. Chop onion into medium-fine pieces
4. Peel ginger then finely chop or grate
5. Dump into a crock pot
6. Add 1/4 cup of broth
9. Cook on high until the carrots are soft when poked with a fork. (If you don't have a crock pot, simmering on a stove would probably have similar effects.)
10. Remove from pot, put everything into a food processor. Blend until very smooth.
11. Add salt to taste
Makes ~4, 8 oz servings, which = ~2 meals
I was literally burning the midnight wax for this one... finals are around the corner.)
I found this soup to be very modular. Meaning, I added different stuff to it each time I ate it. I highly recommend grating sharp white cheddar cheese and raw beets on top. It was refreshing, spicy from the ginger, complemented by sweet crunchy bits of beet as well as the soft fatty goodness from the cheese.
I was literally burning the midnight wax for this one... finals are around the corner.)
I found this soup to be very modular. Meaning, I added different stuff to it each time I ate it. I highly recommend grating sharp white cheddar cheese and raw beets on top. It was refreshing, spicy from the ginger, complemented by sweet crunchy bits of beet as well as the soft fatty goodness from the cheese.
Check it ->>> Modular soup!
(A short illustrative story about fat, salt, and sweets: Yesterday I was sitting behind a mom and a tiny girl on the subway. Mom obliviously yabbering away on the cell, child holding a big Philly pretzel in wax paper. I notice that she peels back the paper, puts the pretzel to her mouth, then pulls it away, but without biting it. She pulls the paper back more and repeats. 'Poor girl,' I think. 'The paper's getting in her way of eating the pretzel.' This continues for 4 or 5 more times... and then I realize... she's just licking the salt and sugar combo off the sweet cinnamon dosed pretzel. Priceless.)
