Soothing soup

After I was up most of the night, I knew I wanted something nutritious and easy on the stomach for brunch.

Carrot and sweet potato soup.

 It started with this bunch:

I ended up NOT using the ginger and adding in some shallots instead.

I put the carrots, chopped garlic, shallots, a pinch of tumeric, cumin, 2 bay leaves, and a pinch of cumin in 3 quarts of water.

While the soup simmered on the stove, I snacked on this:

Toasted seaweed.

These are not to be confused with these:

Teriyaki nori strips.

These strips are thicker (like regular nori sheets used to roll sushi) and I use them to dip in soups and scoop up rice (more on that at dinner).

The toasted seaweed that is for snacking is much thinner and crispier. If you like kale chips you will love these. They are less bitter and I find them as addictive as potato chips - only healthy!

Thin, square pieces of toasted seaweed.

After the soup had simmered for an hour and the liquid had reduced by half, I took it off the heat and pureed it with an immersion blender.

I put the soup back on low heat and stirred in 2 Tbsp. of the rest of the sweet potato puree. 

The sweet potato puree did a great job of thickening up the soup.

I then tore up some kale and spinach into small pieces and added into a pan with olive oil on medium heat.

I fried them till they were crispy.

The soup turned out very rich without huge amounts of dairy.  It was full of flavor and I do really love soups that don't depend on the use of chicken or vegetable broth for the bulk of the flavor.


Carrot and sweet potato soup

Serves 3

Ingredients:

4 carrots, chopped

1 large shallot

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 pinch of cumin

1 pinch of turmeric

1 pinch of salt

2 bay leaves

1/4 teaspoon of black pepper

2 Tbsp. of sweet potato puree (recipe found here)

3 quarts of water

1 handful of kale and spinach torn into small pieces

1 Tbsp. of olive oil

Directions:

Peel and chop the carrots. Chop the shallot and garlic.

Fill a pan with 3 quarts of water and bring to a boil over high heat.

When the water starts to boil, turn down the heat to medium and add in the carrots, garlic, shallot, turmeric, salt, pepper, cumin and bay leaves. 

When the pan comes back up to a boil, turn the heat to low and let it simmer uncovered for 1 hour.

Place a saute pan on medium heat and add in the olive oil and toss in the spinach and kale.

Stir the kale and spinach occasionally until it is slightly brown and crispy.

After the soup has simmered for an hour and the liquid has reduced by half, take it off the heat and puree the soup with an immersion blender (or a blender - just be careful to not overfill the blender with the hot soup).

Place the pureed soup back on low heat and stir in 2 Tbsp. of the sweet potato puree.

Spoon the blended soup into a bowl and top with some of the toasted kale/spinach blend.

Enjoy!