Four Nights A Week

One of my all-time favorite soups is carrot, and so with cooler weather and some beautiful, fresh carrots included in our Clark Farm CSA Share, I couldn’t resist.

Carrot soup, in my opinion, doesn’t require a step-by-step recipe. When I make it I use a blueprint of tastes that appeal to me. If I have a bit of fresh spinach, as I did tonight, I throw it in at the last minute so that it wilts.

As a home cook, I’ve become more skilled at imagining what tastes go together and which things I like. Fennel, spinach, mild or creamy beans leftover – all good. Here’s the basic process that I’ve been following:

1. Sauté chopped aromatics in your favorite oil; mine is coconut. I generally gravitate to chopped onion, a bit of fresh garlic, and chopped ginger root. Don’t like garlic or ginger? Don’t include it; I love the spiciness of ginger so I throw in at least a tablespoon.
2. Next throw in some (five – plus or minus depending on size) chunked up fresh carrots. If you like fennel, use that too. Just get them coated in the oil and aromatics.
3. Add at least a quart of liquids. I use up remnants of white or rosé wines, vegetable broth, water – whatever floats your boat.
4. Cook until the carrots (and whatever else) are soft. If you want to add something leafy, do that now.
5. Now blend it up. I use my immersion blender because a countertop blender is a pain to clean. If there are a few chunks in the soup, that is not a problem for me.
6. Plate it, garnish it (if you want – I like plain Greek yogurt the best), and enjoy.