Roasted Carrot Soup For The Soul

Roasted Carrot, Apple & Fennel Soup

Whew!  I haven’t posted in a while because I just got back from spending 10 days in Europe.  I know, I know….poor me.  I’m not complaining, the trip was fantastic.  While Craig was working, I was wandering around Spain, Germany and Amsterdam.

But while we were there, boy did I eat – and eat – and eat.  There was paella and sangria Spain, along with their world famous chocolate and churros…Germany brought liters of beer, yards of bratwurst and pounds of pork.  Amsterdam was pancakes, more beer, cheese and chocolate.

Returning home, we were greeted with cool Fall weather and the cold slap of reality that eating out three meals a day is not financially reasonable nor is it waistline possible.  Soup it is!

Words of Wisdom

Nothing fills the belly or calms a person like a piping hot bowl of homemade soup.  As an added bonus, it is usually quite inexpensive to make a pot of soup and for those who “can’t cook” – you can cook soup.

If you want to make your guy a meal that sets the mood for romance like no other make a pot of soup, buy a loaf of crusty bread (nothing with seeds in it, because picking seeds out of your teeth is a true mood killer) and a bottle of wine.  Both of you will feel totally relaxed having something warm in your bellies and as an added bonus – soup is light enough that you won’t feel bloated – so you’ll look and feel sexy.

I would bet anything that if you set up your meal like an indoor picnic (blanket on the floor and soft lighting), you won’t make it off the blanket until sometime the next morning.

Serves 4

Ingredients

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit.

Place carrots, apples and fennel onto baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil.  Make sure to coat pieces evenly with oil.  Bake in oven for 45-60 minutes.  Carrots should still be somewhat firm, but apple and fennel will be soft.

Remove carrots, apple and fennel from oven and put into large saucepan (include the oil from the pan as well).  Add garlic, ginger and large pinch of kosher salt to saucepan.  Pour chicken stock over vegetables.  Bring to a boil then simmer for 15 minutes.

Transfer contents of saucepan to blender, in batches, and puree until smooth.  (Be very careful blending hot liquids.)  Add more chicken stock to thin out soup to desired consistency.

Ladle into bowls and garnish with dried cranberries, crumbled goat cheese, walnuts, croutons or any combination of these.

* Vegetable stock may be used in place of chicken stock.  For a thicker soup, use less stock…for a thinner soup, use more stock.

Technorati Tags: Easy Recipes, Healthy Recipes, homemade soup, Lite Cooking, soup recipes

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