Carrot Soup with North African Spices Garnished with Bacon

On really blustery winter days we love to make big batches of soup to put in the freezer for future lunches.  One of our favorites is from the Fields of Greens cookbook written by Annie Somerville.  While this is a vegetarian cookbook, we have altered this recipe to meet our meat eating needs.

This is a great book.  I have had it since 1993 when I was a senior in college looking for books to enhance my meager cookbook collection.  Having made several of the recipes, my very favorite can be found on page one hundred and fourteen, which, in my book, is stained and torn from the numerous times I’ve made this recipe.

Carrot Soup with North African Spices.  Simple and delicious and perfect for a blustery day like we had today here in New England.  This is a great soup to make in large batches and freeze for future lunches.

The stars of this soup are the cumin and coriander seeds.  They add a great flavor and warmth to the sweet carrots.

I like to begin by prepping all the ingredients.

Slice one medium sized onion.

2 Garlic Cloves finely chopped

2 teaspoons of grated fresh ginger

2 pounds of thinly sliced carrots

1 medium sized white potato or sweet potato, peeled and thinly sliced

1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seed, toasted and ground

1 teaspoon coriander seed, toasted and ground

This entire recipe is really so easy to make.  It calls for 5 Cups of Light Vegetable Stock…we chose to use chicken broth.  It should be kept warm in a separate pot while you prep the rest of the recipe.

Heat 1 Tablespoon of light olive oil in the bottom of a soup pot.  Add the onion and half a teaspoon of salt.  Sauté over medium heat for about five minutes and then add the garlic, cumin, coriander, ginger and a few pinches of cayenne.  Continue cooking for about 10 minutes.  If the ingredients begin to stick to the bottom of the pot add a spoonful of broth.

Add the carrots, sweet potato, one teaspoon of salt and a quart of the broth.  Bring to a light boil and then reduce the heat, cover and simmer until the carrots are soft.  It takes about 20 minutes.

The mixture can then be pureed in a blender or food processor but we like to use our emulsifier because it makes the job so easy and means we can keep the mixture in the pot so….less mess to clean up.

This soup is great on its own, but if you want to make it really special add a spoonful of sour cream, a handful of smoked apple bacon and a few sprigs of chopped cilantro.  Yum, yum, yum.