Figuring out what to do with this carrot in my garden wasn’t hard. I instantly thought of soup, as most cooks do when faced with a surplus of perishable product. I knew I would cook the carrots down and purée them into something smooth and silky, but I wanted to keep the flavors zingy, as sometimes carrots (especially cooked carrots) can tend towards the blandly sweet. First, I decided that I would roast the carrots in the oven before cooking them in the broth, in order to bring out some of the complexities that high heat imparts to vegetables.
Then I decided that I would throw a lot of strong, warming spices in with the usual salt and pepper on my carrots. I then tossed some oil and seasoning, plus generous amounts of whole cumin, coriander and mustard seeds into the oven, emerging burnished and fragrant after about forty minutes. Then I sweated some onions, garlic and grated ginger in some olive oil, added the carrots and enough chicken stock to cover, and simmered for about forty minutes, until the carrots rehydrated and melded with the other flavors in the pot. Then, I busted out my handy immersion blender and puréed it all up, adding dollops of plain yogurt as I went. The end result is a surprisingly complex-tasting soup, warm and spicy from the whole seeds, but also cool and tangy from the addition of the yogurt. I actually think this would be excellent cold, I’ve been eating it hot.
Makes 4 to 6 servings
INGREDIENTS
- 3 pounds carrots, peeled and cut into medium, uniform chunks (about 2 quarts)
- 3 tablespoons neutral oil such as grapeseed or canola
- 1 1/2 teaspoons whole coriander seeds
- 1 1/2 teaspoons whole cumin seeds
- 1 1/2 teaspoons whole mustard seeds (yellow or brown)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 medium onions, peeled and cut into a large dice (about 2 cups)
- 3 medium cloves garlic, chopped (about 1 tablespoon)
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
- 1 quart vegetable broth
- 1 cup plain yogurt, whole or lowfat
- 2 tablespoons juice from 1 to 2 limes
- Fresh cilantro leaves, for serving
DIRECTIONS
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 425°F. In a large bowl, toss carrots, neutral oil, coriander, cumin, mustard seeds, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir well. Turn carrots out onto a large rimmed baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and roast, stirring occasionally, until carrots are tender and well-browned, about 40 minutes. Remove tray from oven.
- Heat olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft but not browned, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add carrots and stock, cover, and bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium-low and simmer soup, partially covered, until carrots have absorbed cooking liquid and re-plumped, about 30 minutes.
- Remove soup from heat and use a hand blender to blend until mostly smooth. Alternatively, blend soup in a blender in two batches. Add yogurt and lime juice and blend until totally smooth (again, working in batches if using standard blender), about 1 minute.
- Let soup cool at room temperature for one hour, stirring occasionally. Transfer to refrigerator and let cool, stirring occasionally, until well chilled, about 45 minutes. Check soup for seasoning, adding more salt or pepper to taste. Serve, garnished with cilantro leaves.
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