Continuing my random recipe try, I pulled out a clipping from a January 2005 New York Times by Nigella Lawson. An ascetic trio of recipes meant to atone for holiday sins, there was a bracing beet and ginger soup, that was quick, wholesome, and low in calories. The minimal ingredients – roasted beets, minced ginger, hot vegetable stock and lemon juice – made for a soup in which the ginger popped against the sweetness of the beets. My father, who happened to be in town, commented on how it would be good with carrots instead. A surprising observation from a man with the palate of a rhinoceros and who barely eats in his Geritol years. Maybe this is the path to the carrot ginger soup of my dreams.
I have so often been disappointed by carrot ginger soup because of the delicate balance between the carrot and ginger. The simplicity of four basic ingredients lets the flavors shine. A little different from sticking all the ingredients in a pot and pureeing it, the recipe is quick to put together as long as the carrots are roasted ahead of time.
Carrot Ginger Soup
-roast 1/2 lb. carrots in 400 degree oven for 40 minutes. This can be done ahead of time.
-mince 1/2-inch piece of ginger to get 1T, err towards more than less ginger.
-peel carrots when cool and cut into 1-inch pieces
-heat 2 cups vegetable stock
-blend carrots, ginger, hot stock and juice of 1/2 lemon
