I recently sent a few jars of healthy soup down the street to Retro Rose when she was sick. She called me up to say, “that carrot soup is fabulous.” Just when I was about to reply “see, healthy food is good” she adds, “it would be great on mashed potatoes.”
Well, as we say in the South, bless her heart. And, I did, literally with carrot soup.
Did you know that while carrots have had their acclaim as a food high in antioxidants from beta carotene, there is new breakthrough research which has proven carrots to reduce cardiovascular disease. Read about that here.
A shopping trip to Whole Foods adorned my counter with this beautiful bounty, which I posted to instagram promising to return with healthy, real food soups and smoothies.
A few hours later I had heart healthy carrot ginger soup and cancer fighting broccoli kale soup.
I started first with carrots, orange and ginger. I threw in a golden beet, and lots of ginger, along with celery, leeks and garlic. The golden beet will bring a slight earthy flavor to this soup, which you may or may not like, but it’s yellow and heart healthy. I also used a whole orange and a good nob of fresh ginger.
The soup is creamy without cream, and has a zing to it from the ginger. It’s low in calories, dense in nutrition and filling. When this soup was reheated, it was just as bright, spicy and fresh tasting, and didn’t need another thing, except a little salt.
The Soup Process
I used one pot, one sauté pan, and the Vitamix. The pot contained six cups of water, two pounds of carrots, a half onion, celery, part of a leek, and a golden beet, making a flavorful broth. All the vegetables and some of the broth go into the soup. The pan contained olive oil, chunky onions, shallots, and celery. Once they cook down, add in garlic and ginger, and feel free to add in fresh herbs such as thyme or parsley.
Carrots are the star, but the secret to the soup, however, is the slow sauté of the shallots, leeks, and good amount of celery. Once you begin to smell this combination when it nearly caramelizes, you will know exactly what I mean. This is your flavor booster.
Once the carrots are cooked or nearly cooked, add them to the Vitamix with onion/celery mixture and a cup or two of broth. This is optional, but you can add more sweetness by adding in one whole navel orange, peeled. Once you begin mixing, you’ll know if you need to add in more broth. Add a little at a time, until you get the creamy consistency you desire.
In my next post which continues down the clean eating street, I’ll show you what I did with the kale and broccoli.
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- 2 pounds organic carrots, peeled
- 1 golden beet, peeled (optional)
- 1 onion
- 2 cups coarsely chopped celery
- 1 onion roughly chopped
- 1 inch piece fresh ginger, minced
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- handful fresh herbs such as parsley, thyme
- 1 navel orange, peeled
- 6 cups water
- salt
- pepper
- Chop carrots and goldent beet into approximately 3 inch pieces.
- Add half of the onion and 1 piece of celery to cold water with the carrots.
- Bring to boil, reduce heat to medium boil and continue to cook until carrots are nearly soft.
- In the meantime, heat olive oil in saute pan.
- Add onion and chopped celery until softened.
- Finely chop the herbs.
- Add in herbs, ginger and garlic and cook for five minutes.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Add cooked carrots and beets with the vegetables from the pot to the vitamix.
- Add in the vegetables from the pan.
- Add one cup of the broth.
- Mix until well incorporated.Add more broth as necessary until you get the consistency you want.
- This will give you four servings.
More Healthy Soups
Healthy Slow Cooker Chicken Kale Soup
I love Ginger! Recently found out I’m very allergic to it. Is there anything that is a good substitute for Ginger?
Boy, I sure wish I were at your house!! Or down the street. I love ginger and putting it with carrots just gives the carrots an extra zip. I just now got hubby eating cooked carrots and he loves them. And to think all of the ingredients are healthy for us?? Well that is a win-win all around. Can’t wait to try it!
I love Carrot Ginger soup! Made it this weekend for the kids. Goes great with a grilled cheese sandwich!
Oh Sherryl That sounds good! With a grilled cheese.
I don’t usually like soups, but that’s more of a texture issue I have with not liking meat flavored liquids. But this sounds amazing! I’ll have to give it a try!
Thanks Nikki.