Roasted Carrot Soup…SO Good!

When I think of delicious, creamy soups, carrot soup is not one that immediately comes to mind…until I made this. I found this Roasted Carrot Soup recipe in April’s issue of Good Housekeeping and thought it looked good and would be a reasonably priced soup, which it was. When I told my husband I was making this for dinner, he wasn’t overly excited but when he tasted it, he said it was the best carrot soup he’d ever tried, and was really delicious. In fact, neither one of us thought carrot soup was something we’d want to cook on a regular basis. Seriously, this soup is really good! I bought my carrots on sale for 89 cents a pound and made my own carrot juice which is cheaper than buying it already made. This recipe makes 8 appetizer servings or serve it as a main dish for 4. I’m actually making this for our family get-together on Easter and serving it in shot glasses for soup shooter appetizers. This looks beautiful served in tea cups too and would be a delicious addition to a baby/wedding shower or brunch. After I made this, I saw huge bags of carrots for juicing at Safeway, which would have saved me money so make sure you check at your grocery store if they have the bigger bags of carrots.

ROASTED CARROT SOUP –

Active Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Serves: 8 appetizer servings for approx. $9.00

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs. carrots, cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 medium shallots, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
• 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 3 cups carrot juice
• 1 piece (1 inch) peeled fresh ginger, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt, for garnish
• chives, for garnish

Directions:

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. On large jelly-roll pan, toss carrots with oil, cayenne, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Spread in single layer; roast 30 to 35 minutes or until carrots are caramelized, stirring once halfway through.

Meanwhile, in 5-quart saucepan, melt butter on medium. Add shallots, garlic, thyme, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook 3 minutes or until shallots are golden, stirring. Add carrots, broth, juice, ginger, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cover, heat to simmering on medium-high. Reduce heat to maintain simmer; cook, partially covered, 10 minutes or until tender.

With blender, puree mixture until smooth. Soup can be made and refrigerated up to 1 day ahead. Reheat on medium.

To serve, top with yogurt and chives.

Each Serving…About 150 calories, 3 g protein, 25 g carbohydrate, 5 g total fat (2 g saturated), 5 g fiber, 10 mg cholesterol, 960 g sodium.

It’s been a long time since I used my juicer, which is obvious from this picture. You want to remember to have a container to catch the juice before you start juicing!

DID YOU KNOW?

A cup of raw carrots gives you an impressive 428% of your daily vitamin A, which keeps your vision and immune system healthy.