Winter is in full swing and what we really want when it’s cold and raining (like it has been all week in LA) is a nice big bowl of soup to keep us warm and nourished from the inside out. During these colder months it can actually be beneficial for us to cleanse with warm, cooked foods and by adding a little extra spice to our diets we can keep our metabolisms working strong to help detox our systems. Food blogger Madeline Lu has created the perfect cleansing carrot soup for the season. Made with roasted carrots, lemongrass and warming detoxifying spices like ginger and cilantro, this is a soup we could eat all month long!
Roasted Carrot Soup with Ginger and Lemongrass
Ingredients:
1 lb carrots, cleaned, peeled and cut into 3/4” pieces
1 lemongrass, cut into 3/4” pieces
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
15 oz vegetable stock
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup cooked quinoa
small handful of roasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped
a few cilantro leaves, to garnish
Directions:
Heat the oven to 350 °F.
Put the carrots in baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and add a sprinkle of salt. Toss the carrots until coated with the oil and salt. Place the baking dish in the oven and roast the carrots for one hour.
When there are 30 minutes of the roasting time left, put the vegetable stock, lemongrass and ginger into a heavy saucepan and bring it to boil. Reduce the heat to low and cover.
Once the carrots are done, take the baking dish out of the oven. Set aside. Pick out the lemongrass pieces from the soup and add the carrots into the soup. Season with salt and pepper. Bring the soup to a boil again and reduce to medium low. Simmer for another 30-40 minutes until the carrots are very soft.
Use a hand blender and blend soup into puree. Divide the soup among the serving bowls. Add 2 tablespoons of quinoa, a few cilantro leaves and roughly chopped roasted hazelnuts.
