WIPGYOR series: Orange is for yummy carrot soup!

Vancity is pretty chilly these days. Of course, its not half as bad as last year...we had to brave knee-deep snow around this time last year..and though its not that bad this winter, its still quite cold. Most of the days its cold cold rain all day and on a few days, frosty roads make us slip and slosh all the way to work! So what better than than a yummy, healthy carrot soup to add some warmth on days like these?

After a little search on the Internet for a good carrot soup recipe, I settled on this one I found on Alanna's blog called 'Laura's carrot soup recipe'. Click here for the original recipe. I followed it quite closely but made a few changes in the spices to adjust the heat to our liking.

Here are the measures I used:
1 big clove garlic, chopped
1/2 medium sized onion, chopped roughly
1/2 rib celery, chopped
1 tsp butter
3 big carrots, peeled and sliced
1 small potato with the skin
3 cups hot water
1/2 maggi instant bouillon
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp black pepper +1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt (adjust as per taste)
1/2 cup milk

Procedure:
- Saute garlic, onion and celery in butter until tender in a thick bottomed vessel.
- Add all the remaining ingredients except milk and 1/4 tsp black pepper powder. Bring to a boil and cook until carrots are tender, it was about 25 mins for me. Cool the mixture.
- Puree in a blender and return mixture to the cooking pan. Add milk, 1/4 tsp black pepper powder, heat and serve immediately.

I also made some fresh croutons to go with the soup using bread I had at home by pan searing a couple slices with a little butter.

The soup is a hearty, delicious one and something I will definitely be making more often. Alanna has also posted the nutrient content if anyone is interested. As for me, the taste won me over, the fact that its light in calories is the icing on the cake :)

Come back tomorrow for the last (but not the least) recipe in the series- its going to be a fiery red seafood dish!

Ciao,
V