Carrot Ginger Soup

It has been so cold this week and has finally decided to snow so why not make a nice hot soup. I have made homemade soups before and I do really enjoy it. I actually bought a carrot ginger soup from the grocery store a few weeks ago and it was SO good. I remember looking at the ingredients thinking it couldn't be that difficult to make. The amount of simmering that happens makes it a pretty hands off dish outside of the prep work. Now that being said, at least for this recipe the prep work was A LOT of peeling a chopping. It took me about as long to prep as it did to actually cook the soup. But I am choosing to focus on the upside, that it gave me the opportunity to work on my knife skills.

I've watched a few videos on knife skills and knife sharpening. I'm pretty proud of myself that I learned to use the honing rod that came with my knife set. I know I'm not doing it 100% correctly but it's enough that I can feel the difference in chopping. As far the cuts go, I have some work to do. I think it need to focus on the consistency first, that's my biggest struggle, then move to speed. As for right now, I'll continue chopping at the speed of a sloth.

Now, I am typically following the recipes in the "Joy of Cooking" but the book recommends taking some creative liberties. Since I recently made the Parsnips au Gratin, I had a few parsnips left over and decided to add them to this soup. They had a similar flavour to a carrot and I didn't want them to go to waste. Honestly, I couldn't really taste them in the soup but because they are starchy I think they helped improve the texture of the soup, it made it hardier. I also adjusted some of the measurements. Once I had pureed the soup I could pretty much only taste the carrots, I might have started with too many. Regardless, I ended up adding a little extra ginger, orange juice, salt, and pepper and it transformed. It also called for some crouton topping but I forgot to buy them and I wasn't about to make some, the soup smelled too good and I was ready to eat!

This was the first time I cooked with curry seasoning. I didn't stray away from the measurements on that one since it carried such a strong smell. Even with the small amount I added, it really brought a great flavour to the soup. The ginger gave the soup a bit of warmth too which I didn't expect. I don't often cook with fresh ginger but it made a difference.

All in all this was a great winter soup! It made delicious left-overs too. There's nothing quite so cozy then a nice hot soup or stew on a cold winter night.

I'll leave you with this.

Which friends should you always take out to dinner?

Your taste buds!

Make sure to check out the BTS of this dish!