The Root of Spring

Soup for spring?  You bet!

Just when you think warm weather might be sticking around, and you're about to retire your soup pot for a few months, along comes the comedienne of Nature, the Phyllis Diller of atmospherics, a classic cold and rainy spell.  Before you get too comfortable with balmy temperatures, before you let Nature pull a fast one on you, arm yourself with a lovely soup recipe that will buffer you against the chill one last time while fickle spring makes up her mind.

Spicy Gingered Carrot Soup

From The Best of Bloodroot*, Volume Two,Vegan Recipes
by Selma Miriam & Noel Furie with Lagusta Yearwood

*Bloodroot is a feminist restaurant which opened its doors in 1977.  It's located in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where it serves a diverse community and addresses a host of feminist issues. 

8 Servings

1.  Coarsely dice 1 Spanish onion and 2 small seeded jalapeno peppers. Peel and slice 1/3 c. fresh ginger.  Peel and slice 6 cloves garlic.

2.  Heat 3 tbs. grapeseed oil in a soup pot.  Add 1 tsp. turmeric and saute all vegetables, stirring until they begin to brown. (I used olive oil.)

3.  Peel 2 large potatoes and cut into large dice.  Peel 2 sweet potatoes and do the same.  Coarsely cut up 2 celery stalks, and 6 peeled carrots.  Add all vegetables to soup pot together with 8 cups water and 1/2 c. red lentils (picked over first to remove any small stones).  Bring to a boil over high heat, then turn fire lower and cover pot.  Cook over low heat until vegetables are tender.  Let cool 20 minutes.

4.  Puree soup in batches in a blender.  Return to soup pot.  Finish with the juice of 3 to 4 limes, 1 1/2 tbs. Bragg's Liquid Aminos, salt, pepper, and tamari to taste. (I used an immersion blender to puree, which typically leaves a bit more texture than using a blender or food processor.  I also cut back on the limes to 2 healthy specimens.)

I've reproduced Bloodroot's recipe format, which does not provide a list of ingredients at the beginning of the recipe but rather incorporates them into the body of the directions.  At first, I was somewhat put off by having to canvass the recipe to see if I had the ingredients I needed.  (In the interest of full disclosure, the ingredients are in blue in the cookbook, so they do stand out.)  I realized, though, that this format forces the lazy would-be chef (that's ME) to read the whole recipe before starting to cook.  That's rule number one in the course titled, COOKING FROM RECIPES, 101.  I admit to being slap-dash in following this basic, even though I've suffered ill consequences from doing so.  Smart move, women of Bloodroot!  You most likely saved some kitchen frustration for your readers!

Spicy Gingered Carrot Soup was easy to make as long as you've reconciled yourself to chopping.  It happens, and you just have to deal with it.  I love the addition of red lentils, which reinforces the appealing carroty-orange of this puree, and also adds a shot of protein.  

At first taste, I thought the soup was on the "thin" side in the flavor department, and may have benefited from homemade vegetable stock in place of the water.  I try not to rely on salt to augment taste, but I found I needed to use both tamari and salt to bring this soup around.  As often happens with soup, it was perfect the next day. My advice:  don't oversalt, give it a day to commingle, and you'll have a winner in your soup repertoire.

I also added some chopped, toasted walnuts as a garnish, and a swirl of maple syrup.  Just because I wanted to.