Carrot Apple Ginger Soup
Sometimes I just want to eat a color.
…Does that make sense? Does that ever happen in your brain?
Usually I want to eat things that are green (kale), milky (coffee), made of booze, made of chocolate, or made of pie.
For some reason, yesterday I wanted something orange and spicy.
I made soup. Because all I ever make is soup… then I put it in this wood bowl and take two pictures of it before I have to sit down on my couch and eat it.
That’s how it goes around here. It just does.
Carrots with their hair are so much more romantic that the stripped version. Don’t you think?
The cute bagger boy at Whole Foods asked me if I was going to juice the greens when I got home. I think he was trying to impress me. I looked at him like he was from Mars.
I was also wearing my super fitted workout pants. He tried to recover from the juicing comment by asking me how many miles I ran that morning. I answered ‘zero’, which was totally true. Awkward. Asking a girl how many miles she ran is basically announcing that you’ve checked out her rear end and find it interesting enough to ask about.
I wasn’t doing anything to make him feel any better about checking out my butt and trying to impress me with his carrot juicing knowledge. Poor thing… he was trying.
Anyway….
Onions and garlic go in soup, because onions and garlic always go in soup.
Duh.
An apple and ginger can totally go in soup too. These two items can also go in spice cake… but we’re not here for cake. Concentrate, will you!?
Carrots, apple, and ginger cook down beautifully in this soup. The carrots are slightly sweet and full of good-for-you-things. The apple adds a necessary touch of sweetness (although it doesn’t taste distinctly apple-y in this soup), and the ginger is perfectly spicy. It’s good for you. It’s orange. It’s really delicious with buttered bread… that goes for just about anything in life, though.
This whole mess is vegan too. Minus the delicious buttered bread. Silly.
Carrot Apple Ginger Soup
serves 4
guided by this recipe.
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 small yellow onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 small apple, peeled and sliced
4 to 5 cups sliced, peeled carrots (about 1 1/2 pounds)
4 cups vegetable broth
pinch of nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions and cook until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add ginger and garlic and cook for one minute, until fragrant. Add sliced apples and diced carrots and cook for 3 minutes more.
Turn flame to medium-high and add vegetable broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce flame to low and simmer, uncovered, until carrots and apples are softened, about 30 minutes. Remove pan from the flame and let rest for 10 minutes.
Blend the soup in batches in a blender. Be sure not to fill the blender more than halfway full or hot soup will explode everywhere. Not cool. Also, when blending hot liquids in a blender, leave the blender lid slightly ajar to let some of the steam escape.
Once all of the soup is blended, return to the pot. You may decide that you want you soup a bit thinner in consistency. Add more vegetable broth if you’d like. Taste, and add a dash of fresh ground nutmeg, as well as salt and pepper to taste. The soup won’t need much pepper, as ginger is pretty spicy.
Serve with a drizzle of quality olive oil, a sprinkling of fresh cracked pepper, and a few carrot top sprigs… cause you’re fancy, and whatnot.
Soup will last, in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Soup also freezes well. Thaw in the fridge before reheating.
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I’ve got to admit, the first thing that came to my mind was “I want that decorative plate!” Then came the “Oh, my veggie friends would Love this!”
ps: If you happen to remember where you got the plate, I’d be super appreciative ;}
I think it’s time that I tell you that I love you, and want to marry you.
‘Nuff said.
The soup looks beautiful. It’s true that carrots with the stems on look and taste better. Just cooked some lentils and might turn into a carrot ginger and lentil soup. Thanks again for a great post. Love the pictures, the writing and the recipes.
I don’t know… I think the spice cake idea has some merit! But yeah, it’s still soup weather and that big bowl of orange looks so very gorgeous.
I think I might have to make this for dinner. It looks perfect for this nasty cold day I’m having.
And hey, kudos to the kid for trying? Sometimes it’s just nice to have your butt appreciated. =)
I just wanted to say that I have fallen in love with you and your blog recently. I’ll be trying this recipe today and *maybe* I’ll share some…but we’ll have to see!
I crave cool and creamy things incessantly, which results in an insane yogurt habit (how does one eat 4 lbs of yogurt in a week and a half? how?). This soup looks uber-tasty, btw.
I have to say, I love how clear your directions and pictures are for making this soup! It is so nicely organized and very easy to follow. The soup looks delicious too! Thanks for the great blog post!
Great soup recipe. The carrots are so purty!
Blech! Where’s the cake??? ;)
wonderful comfort food, cheers from london
Wow! This photograph is composed beautifully. I love your bowl/plate and the soup looks amazing too. Perhaps I’m not very adventurous with soup but would never have considered making a carrot soup. This post, however, has me rethinking my chunky veggie soup obsession. Interesting…Thanks!
perfect comfort food.
I’m going to use that line on… mmmmm, every woman I meet from now on, whether or not she A) is in a grocery store, or B) is in possession of “greens.”
Me – “So, you gonna juice those greens when you get home?”
Double Hot Girl – “What are you talking about weirdo.”
Me – “JUICE!”
I’ll let you know how it goes.
By the way… those are the prettiest carrots I’ve ever seen and the soup looks heavenly.
Made it yesterday! very quick and very tasty. I love the different layers of flavour too. The ginger, the carrots and the apples. All goes together so nicely.
Thank you!
I made your soup yesterday and it didn’t last until today. My fussy son even said it was great!
Thanks. Simple, wholesome, delicious.
This looks yummy! I will also admit to not being able to resist a bushy topped carrot!
I made this soup for a group of my friends yesterday and everyone loved it! I just wanted to thank you for an easy/creative recipe that’s a total crowd pleaser!
just made this soup today (sans apple since i didn’t have any) and it was delicious. i love how sweet the carrots become.
My friend made a version of carrot and ginger soup years ago and I loved it! I am so going to try this recipe….yum!
can i use chicken broth? it’s all i have in the house. thx
Dear Joy, I made your delicious soup. Although I was missing a crucial ingredient – a blender. So I improvised. It was delicious nonetheless. It reminded me of borsch. The beet-less variety. Either way, thank you for this.
I just made the soup tonight! I tasted it after blending and thought it needed just a touch more flavor so I put in some ground ginger (the dried kind, from the spice rack) turns out that’s pretty potent stuff! So now mine is SUPER gingery, but still good. Next time I’ll just make sure to go a little lighter with the ground ginger :)
I had a little left over Parmesan cheese I sprinkled on top, it was delicious!
Making this for dinner for my wife tonight with roasted chicken. Thanks for the wonderful ideas!!
I must say, as soon as I saw this blog and Oh! the recipe, my oh my! I was delighted! …Today we woke up with an awesome fresh/chilly day of 50 degrees (Texas weather peps, it;’s chilly for us!) which made for the perfect opportunity to make this delicious soup…it’s in the process right now but I hope it turns out as good as the pictures look! :)
Cati
This is a lovely soup! thank you for posting the recipe and inspiring me to do something with the carrots in my fridge! I added a dash of siracha and was delicious.
This soup is ah-mazing. Just made it tonight for dinner and it was absolutely delicious!
I posted this on my facebook a few days ago and received messages from people who said they absolutely loved it! I decided I better hurry up and make it so I’m actually credible. My blender broke so I used my food processor. It doesn’t seem to look as smooth as yours in the picture (maybe the food processor?) but none the less it is delish!
i’m glad you made it happen!
I am hoping this tastes like a carrot soup I once had at a restaurant, and I have been looking for something similar ever since! It was one of the best soups I have ever tasted. Here’s hoping!…
Amazing!!! Cheers from Brasil.
Yum….love eating the color orange! :) Looks great Joy…I like that there’s an apple in there for good measure and yes….onions & garlic belong in soups! It was great meeting you this weekend! Take care and I look forward to reading more of your blog. I’ve been on a soup kick lately…so I think I’ll be making this soup soon!! Take care!
I made this for my birthday and everybody loved it. I cooked some lemongrass with the carrots and added some cilantro in the end. The colour was fantastic.
Thanks for the recipe! Made this last week, adding a touch of curry powder. Very yummy. Your posts are always fun and pretty…and make me hungry.
Delicious, and incredibly tasty. However, I don’t know if we did something wrong, but it only made three mugs of soup. Then again, we might just have huge appetites. Thanks you for the great recipe anyway, we will definitively be making this again !
Orange is my favourite colour to eat! I often make orange harvest soup. My recipe varies depending on my fridge’s content. Sometimes it’s all carrots, sometimes sweet potatos, sometimes butternut squash….but best of all is when I use all three! I also use this amazing chili garlic paste from the asian market, occasionally adding a can of coconut milk.
mmm mmm goooooood
Yum! I will be having this soup for my lunch tomorrow! I must say I briefly read your recipe, saw carrots, apples and ginger and preeetty much just popped it all into the pot in various amounts and hoped for the best. If I’m lucky it’ll have picked up the delicious of the recipe haha.
thanks joy :)
I found you today because of Love and Sugar post. . .brilliant, by the way. . . and scrolled through to find this post. . . it made me smile and think about being pregnant with my 6 yo daughter. . . . I kept finding my plate full of orange things, then I finally realized that I was craving orange foods. . . . I just wanted to eat the color orange!. . . . thanks for triggering the memory and a smile! :-)
I just made this soup and loved it! I added extra ginger for some more spice.
I used store bought veggie broth and not sure I love the taste of it– do you have a good recipe to make your own vegetable broth?
Thanks I love your blog!
Greetings from the UK…..gorgeous soup, wonderful colour and soooo delicious and vital! I heated it up the next day and added a teaspoon of harissa paste
We had this for supper this evening. FANTASTIC! Thank you
So, I’ve been reading Joy the Baker for years now, and somehow this is the first recipe I’ve tried? How? It must have been nerves …
I’m challenging myself this season to cooking fifty of the recipes I’ve bookmarked/pinned, etc, and this is one of the first I tried. (Wrote it: http://foodanddo.lindsaybeeson.com/2011/10/08/day-18-of-101-chipping-away-at-my-fifty-recipes/)
This was *delicious* and it’s gonna be in our regular rotation this season. Thank you!
You are a genius. Thank you.
Your soups are rocking my world Joy! I feel its almost sacrilege… but I have to admit, I have only made your savoury/non-bakey recipes so far. Gasp! But they’re so good – thanks muchly. The hubby thanks you too.
ok, this has nothing to do what so ever with Carrot soup (however I do plan on making that very soon!) – Joy – have you ever read -Junie B Jones? I am guessing no, since you have no kids yet and it is first grade level book. But seriously if you want someone to make you chuckle, grab her little book from a used book store and read one. There is a ton of different ones cause it is a litttle kids series. There is something about her that reminds me of you! The way you put things. You will think you have found yourself in a 5 yr fictious character. (Strange? Maybe, but still pretty funny!)
ok, that’s all. Thanks for brightening my day, as usual!
Adios…from the Dominican Republic!
kirsten
Wow, Joy….you read my mind! I’ve been craving carrot soup for about a week and this will be amazing when I make it for my sweet husband tonight! Thanks so much!