No, don’t worry. This is not the start of a new trend. But every now and then, I feel compelled to offer up one of my favorite savory recipes. And this is definitely one of my best ever happy ones!
I invented this soup a few months back, and it is divine. It’s also divinely simple. It’s thick and creamy, but there’s no cream in it, so it’s healthy, too! It’s also very rich. One bowl is pretty much a meal, as long as you’re having it with a piece of excellent bread. Yes, you’ll want a good crusty loaf to have along with this.
The base begins with onions and cashews, which get browned in the pot along with ground ginger before you add the carrots and chicken stock. You pretty much simmer the heck out of the carrots before pureeing everything with still more chicken stock. It’s so easy, and I guarantee that people will be bowled over (no pun intended, I promise) when they try this soup.
The secret to creamy soup that contains no cream is all in the ratio of liquid to vegetables as well as the thoroughness with which you puree everything. This recipe contains almost two boxes of chicken stock, and I puree everything with an immersion blender until there are no small bits of anything left.
Now, a word about immersion blenders, a.k.a. my favorite kitchen tool. You could do all this in a regular blender by transferring batches in and out, but just rethink that for a minute. Immersion blenders are not expensive (unless you buy a top-of-the-line one) and they save so much mess and dishwashing. They’re convenient as heck. I bought my first immersion blender seven years ago and never looked back. My regular blender is now pretty much a margarita machine.
Once all of your ingredients are pureed and your soup is ready, you have a dish that everyone loves! Well, nearly everyone. Two out of my three kids love this soup. That’s pretty good stats. And when I served it at a dinner with 14 people, everyone gobbled it up and most demanded seconds.
It’s freezing out, and good healthy soups are where it’s at. I’ll get back to dessert in my next post, but for now, make this for dinner!
Ingredients
Instructions
- Put a large soup pot on medium heat. Grease with cooking spray.
- Sautee the onion for two minutes. Add the cashews and cook until lightly browned. Add the ginger and curry, stirring for one minute.
- Pour the bag of carrots into the pot and add one box of chicken stock. Turn the heat up to medium-high and cover the pot.
- Simmer the carrots until they are tender, about 30 minutes. You can test with a fork. They should fall apart easily.
- Remove the soup from the heat and puree with an immersion blender. When the mixture is getting incorporated, gradually pour in about 3/4 of the remaining box of chicken stock. You can refrigerate the rest for a different recipe.
- Puree until the soup is creamy and completely smooth. Add ground pepper if desired and stir again. Serve hot.
- Can be refrigerated for one week, or frozen for one month.
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