Carrot-Ginger Soup

There are at least three reasons why I don’t like the winter at all. You can say whatever you want, but I have to tell you that the winter is a far cry from being my favorite season. First of all, and this is definitely the strongest reason, it’s always cold. And I hate the cold. I like it to be cozy and warm, but that’s not something you’d get in the winter. The moment I leave the house I can feel it. The cold penetrates me. No matter what I am wearing, how many layers of clothes and coats and scarfs I’ve decided to wrap around me, I’m still feeling cold.

Reason number 2: The whole world looks dreary and gray, misty and blurred. I feel that the farthest I can see is to the end of my garden. But then, I live in such a lovely and picturesque area and I simply cannot take in the wonderful view as much as I’d like to.

Reason number 3: Nature seems to have taken a full rest. No flowers, no leaves, no green whatsoever. If nature can do it, so why can’t I? As a matter of fact, this time of the year appears to be one of the busiest. If nature is ramping down, so this should also apply to us human beings, shouldn’t it?

But … be that as it may. I certainly can’t change reason 1 and 2, so I’d better make the best of it. Therefore I decided to make some warm soup today. Warm with regard to temperature and warm with regard to its ingredients.

Concerning reason number 2, I think the best solution to this dark and dreary time of the year is to use as many candles as you can. So, I place them everywhere in the house. On tables, windowsills, in the hall, on the stairs, next to my bathtub, next to the front door, on the terrace, and god knows where else. I always find a new place where I can light one of my million candles.

Well then, that just leaves reason number 3. A very difficult problem to tackle, indeed. The more I intend to take it easy and enjoy a quite time before Christmas the more hectic it usually turns out to be. I doubt that there’s this universal solution that is ideal for everyone. You just have to find a moment that is perfect for you and which you will remember for a very long time.

Anyhow, enough of my boring, old philosophies. I’ll show you what I cooked today.

As mentioned before, I needed something that would warm me up from the inside. And this was a carrot-ginger soup. I used carrots and sweet potatoes and fired them up with some ginger. And finally I completed this abundance of flavor with some spring onions. But let me show you exactly how I made this lovely soup.

Serves 2
3 large carrots
2 medium-sized sweet potatoes
a piece of ginger, about the size of a thumb, peeled
½ tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
about 500 ml of vegetable stock
salt, pepper
3 spring onions
1 tomato
about 50 g of smoked salmon
some cress for garnishing

Heat the butter and oil in a pan. Peel the carrots and slice them, peel the sweet potatoes and dice them. Quickly fry them in the hot fat. Then add the vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Add the peeled ginger. Let them cook until they are soft and tender. Remove the ginger and cut off a piece of about 1,5 cm. Dice this piece very finely and put the small cubes back into the pan. Use a blender to puree the vegetables. Add more vegetable stock if the soup is too thick and more like a puree. Season with salt and pepper and add more ginger if you like. Slice the spring onions and cook them in the soup for about 1-2 minutes. Cut the tomato in half and remove the seeds and the juice from inside. Dice the tomato and add to the soup. Don’t cook the soup any more but leave the soup to allow the different flavors to blend.

Cut the smoked salmon into tiny stripes. Serve the soup with the salmon and the cress.

Here is the recipe for printing: