When I first discovered farmers’ markets, I was introduced to a whole new world. I felt like a kid seeing snow for the first time, my eyes wide with amazement and joy.
No longer was I content to simply shop at the supermarket where produce already came chopped and washed in neat, clean packets. I wanted to go straight to the source, buy the vegetables from the farmers themselves, soil, roots, leaves and all.
There’s something so earthy and beautiful about seeing vegetables plucked fresh from the trees or the ground. I’ll go so far as to say that I find their rustic appearance intensely alluring and captivating. It’s nature in the purest form.
I don’t usually eat too many vegetables in my meals (except during summertime), but when shopping at an organic farmers’ market recently, I saw vegetables in all their glory and my heart skipped a beat. I made a decision there and then to consciously include more vegetables into my diet.
When I got my copy of The Casual Veggie cookbook, I literally jumped for joy. It was exactly what I needed to help me eat more plant-based foods without constantly repeating the same old recipes.
While browsing through the e-cookbook, which is a gorgeous collaboration between 48 food bloggers (how awesome right?!), I found myself drawn to so many of the recipes. In fact there are a total of 168 recipes featuring 29 vegetables – and I figure that if I were to make one recipe every 3 days, I’d probably be eating quite a healthy amount of vegetables in the next one year.
I love how The Casual Veggie cookbook aims to celebrate the vegetables nature has bestowed us, and its focus on creative new ways to eat them. I also think its so awesome that it was the result of a giant food blogger collaboration. How cool is that?
I still have to finish reading through some of the recipes, but I’m absolutely sure I’ll be using plenty of them.
I bought a bunch of carrots a couple of days ago when I was at the organic farmers’ market I told you about earlier on, and the carrots were just was sitting in my refrigerator waiting to be used.
I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do with them when I first bought them, but they were so beautiful that I had to bring them home. Now, tell me, don’t these carrots make you feel alive?
Naturally, when it was nearing lunch time and my stomach begin growling, I turned to The Casual Veggie cookbook for help.
Thumbing through the pages, I found the recipe for roasted carrot and red pepper soup. It was perfect. I loved the idea of having soup for lunch.
Back when I was still living in Singapore, I’d sometimes meet my friends at The Soup Spoon for lunch. It’s a franchise with various outlets, and each outlet was usually packed during lunch hour.
We’d wait in line to place our order and once we’d paid, we’d walk away with large bowls of thick, creamy soup and a slice of crusty bread to go along with it. Seeing the soup recipe in The Casual Veggie cookbook filled me with nostalgia. Inspired and seriously hungry by then, I got up to cook.
My version of carrot soup is slightly different from the one I saw in The Casual Veggie cookbook, and because I didn’t have red peppers on hand, I just made do with what I did have – which include the carrots I’d bought, a couple of yellow onions and some garlic cloves.
Instead of roasting the vegetables, I went with something more hands on and sautéed them in a large pot instead. I also decided to throw in a bit of ground turmeric for a brighter color and anti-inflammatory properties. This is a deliciously tasty soup that can be made from start to finish in just one hour.
Here’s how you can make it too.
Start off by sautéing chopped carrots, onions and minced garlic in a large pot over mead heat until the onions turn translucent (this will probably take you 15 minutes). Once onions are ready, add in the ground turmeric and sauté for a minute before pouring in some water and vegetable stock.
Now, be patient and allow the vegetable-stock mixture to simmer for around 40 minutes over low heat, until carrots are tender enough to be cut with a wooden spoon.
At this point, let the mixture cool down slightly before transferring it to an electric blender like mine and process until you get a thick but smooth and creamy soup.
Adjust for salt before returning the soup to the pot and heat up before serving. Garnish this beautiful carrot turmeric soup with some cracked black pepper and serve with a slice of crusty bread. Warm, healing and comforting, this easy carrot turmeric soup is full of vegetables and has anti-inflammatory properties. This is comfort soup for the soul.
If you’ve got “eat more vegetables” written in your list of goals as well, I strongly recommend getting a copy of The Casual Veggie cookbook.
I promise you won’t regret it. It’s really that good!
Ok I’m back to finishing off my soup. Make this soup today and tell me how you like it!
Carrot Turmeric Soup
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 60 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 mins
- Yield: 2 bowls 1x
Description
Warm, healing and comforting, this easy carrot turmeric soup is full of vegetables and has anti-inflammatory properties. Make it from start to finish in just one hour. Comfort soup for the soul.
Ingredients
- 3 cups chopped carrots
- 2 cups chopped yellow onions
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 1/2 tablespoons ground turmeric
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups vegetable stock
- Salt to taste
- Cracked black pepper, for garnishing
Instructions
- In a large pot over medium heat, sauté the chopped carrots, onions and minced garlic, until the onions turn translucent (around 15 minutes).
- Add in turmeric powder and sauté for one minute before adding in water and stock.
- Allow the vegetable-stock mixture to simmer for 40 minutes over medium-low heat, until carrots are tender enough to be cut with a wooden spoon.
- Let vegetable-stock mixture cool down for a while before transferring it to an electric blender and process until you get a thick but smooth and creamy soup.
- Adjust for salt.
- Return soup to the pot and heat up before serving.
- Garnish carrot turmeric soup with cracked black pepper and serve with a slice of crusty bread.
Notes
Inspired by: The Casual Veggie Cookbook
- Category: Soup
- Cuisine: Vegan
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