My husband’s aunt recently had some dental work done and she’s a huge fan of my soup.  Her favorite is this Lemon Parsley-and-Egg Soup, so I made her a batch of that, and I also made her a batch of this carrot soup. I love the soup. It’s quite healthy, and a great way to eat your vegetables. The carrot and ginger are a wonderful combination and the fresh lemon juice added at the end adds a real brightness to the soup.

You can easily substitute vegetable broth if you’d like to make this a vegetarian soup. I used pureed ginger from a jar because I had it on hand. My soup ended up with a mild ginger flavor. My guess is that if you use freshly grated ginger, you’ll taste it a little more in the soup. Next time I’ll grate fresh ginger. I recommend using fresh lemon juice in this soup. Bottled won’t be the same.

Carrot Soup with Ginger and Lemon
Recipe from epicurious.com

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 1/4 pounds medium carrots, peeled, chopped (about 3 cups)
2 tomatoes, seeded, chopped (about 1 1/3 cups)
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
3 cups (or more) chicken stock or canned low-salt broth
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Greek yogurt or sour cream for garnish

Melt butter in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 4 minutes. Add ginger and garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Add chopped carrots, tomatoes and lemon peel; sauté 1 minute. Add 3 cups stock and bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover partially and simmer until carrots are very tender, about 20 minutes. Cool slightly.

Puree soup in batches in blender or using an immersion blender. Return soup to pot. Mix in fresh lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Top with sour cream or plain Greek yogurt.

Yield:  4 servings

One year ago: Zvi’s Cinnamon Swirl Bread
Two years ago: Roasted Butternut Squash
Three years ago: Parmesan Cheese Crackers
Four years ago: Cardamom Spritz Cookies
Five years ago: Chocolate Chip Banana Bread