Spicy Carrot Curry Soup

So... in preparation for all the soup making I am expecting to do, I invested in the Costco 10 lb bag of onions and 10 lb bag of organic carrots. I was pretty optimistic about purchasing them, however, 20 lbs of vegetables looks a lot bigger now that we have them in our apartment.

I think we'll do ok, but I have to remember to buy some green vegetables next time we're out. I don't want to risk turning us orange (a quick poll of my friends + google search revealed this wonderful article on the subject. Good news: only one known carrot overdose related death in history, yay?).

This soup will be my first in a series of attempts to make my way through those carrots. On the bright side it turned out super tasty, I think next time I'll make a double batch. :)

Ingredients:

6 - medium sized carrots

1 - large yellow onion

4 - cloves garlic

32 oz. - chicken stock

1 Tbsp - curry powder
1 tsp - nutmeg
1 tsp - cayenne pepper (adjust to make it more or less spicy)
1 tsp - salt (more or less depending on the sodium content of your broth)
2 Tbsp - butter (or olive oil)
1/4 cup - cream (optional)

Directions:

Start by dicing up your onion. Since you are blending this soup don't worry too much about getting the pieces too uniform. 

While you're dicing you can start heating up your butter in the pot.

Add the onions to the pot and let them caramelize as you chop up the garlic and carrots. Again it doesn't really matter how you chop since we are blending. However, I like to chop relatively thin slices so that the carrots cook faster.

Make sure the onions are fully caramelized before adding the other ingredients. The onions are a big part of the flavor in the finished soup.

these look about done!

Toss in the garlic and the carrots. if you are worried about things sticking you can also add a cup or so of the chicken broth. 

Let everything simmer together for a couple minutes until the carrots start to get just a bit soft. Next add the curry and nutmeg. I know nutmeg sounds like something that should go in pumpkin pie and gingerbread, but it turns out it also complements and adds depth to curries too. How exciting! :D 

Mix around just a bit more and then add the rest of your chicken broth. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer until everything is soft.

When you are confident that everything is soft enough to blend transfer the contents of the pot to your blender. Add the cayenne pepper and cream if you are using any and blend until smooth.

Enjoy!

Get well soon!

Elizabeth and Nathan