I came home from the library before dinner today so I decided to treat myself to something other than cereal bars and the library cafe's sandwiches for once.
I love soup in the winter. There's nothing like soup to warm yourself up when your heater doesn't work properly despite the ridiculously high rent that you're paying. Carrots and parsnips are in season, check out Eat Seasonably's interactive wheel to find out more about the veggies that are in season now. It's good to know when to buy what, not only do your groceries become cheaper, it's also good for the environment. Plus the interactive wheel is really pretty (pretty websites are key to promoting sustainability). Anyway, back to carrots and parsnips. I love root vegetables, their robust flavors make them perfect for soups. Carrots and parsnips are especially wonderful together in a simple roast. Toss the two in olive oil, coarse sea salt and pepper. Add a few sprigs of thyme and roast at 180C until softened. They both caramelize and release their full flavors, making them sweet and soft -- an absolute treat for the taste buds.
But I decided to make a soup with them. We already know parsnips and carrots are like Mickey and Minnie. Most carrot recipes, when titled with "spiced" usually means a combination of cumin and other spices, giving them a very Moroccan and Middle Eastern touch, which I love, but I decided to go a different route: spiced carrot and parsnip soup with cinnamon and cardamom. It's quite a delicate and light soup, making it suitable for the summer as well.
Cook time: 25 min Serves: 1 Suitable for: a light supper for a cold winter's night after a hard day
Ingredients
1 tbs oil
1 carrot (peel and cubed)
1 parsnip (peel and cubed)
1/2 onion (finely chopped)
1 garlic clove
3 cardamom pods (cracked)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup vegetable stock
1 tbsp yoghurt
1/s tbs honey
pinch of nutmeg
salt and pepper
Method
Fry the onions in oil over medium heat until translucent (about 5 minutes). Then add the cardamom, cinnamon and garlic, and fry for a minute. Add the carrot and parsnip, toss it for one more minute to let the ingredients mingle and finally you can add the stock, turn down the heat and let it simmer for 20 minutes or until softened, depending on how big your carrot and parsnip pieces are. Puree it till smooth, add the yoghurt, honey, season according to taste and sprinkle some nutmeg.
Variations
-Add single cream or creme fraiche instead of yoghurt
-Experiment with different root vegetables, if I knew which bits were edible from my flatmate's carved pumpkin I would've made a pumpkin and cardamom soup
I love soup in the winter. There's nothing like soup to warm yourself up when your heater doesn't work properly despite the ridiculously high rent that you're paying. Carrots and parsnips are in season, check out Eat Seasonably's interactive wheel to find out more about the veggies that are in season now. It's good to know when to buy what, not only do your groceries become cheaper, it's also good for the environment. Plus the interactive wheel is really pretty (pretty websites are key to promoting sustainability). Anyway, back to carrots and parsnips. I love root vegetables, their robust flavors make them perfect for soups. Carrots and parsnips are especially wonderful together in a simple roast. Toss the two in olive oil, coarse sea salt and pepper. Add a few sprigs of thyme and roast at 180C until softened. They both caramelize and release their full flavors, making them sweet and soft -- an absolute treat for the taste buds. But I decided to make a soup with them. We already know parsnips and carrots are like Mickey and Minnie. Most carrot recipes, when titled with "spiced" usually means a combination of cumin and other spices, giving them a very Moroccan and Middle Eastern touch, which I love, but I decided to go a different route: spiced carrot and parsnip soup with cinnamon and cardamom. It's quite a delicate and light soup, making it suitable for the summer as well.
Cook time: 25 min Serves: 1 Suitable for: a light supper for a cold winter's night after a hard day
Ingredients
1 tbs oil
1 carrot (peel and cubed)
1 parsnip (peel and cubed)
1/2 onion (finely chopped)
1 garlic clove
3 cardamom pods (cracked)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup vegetable stock
1 tbsp yoghurt
1/s tbs honey
pinch of nutmeg
salt and pepper
Method
Fry the onions in oil over medium heat until translucent (about 5 minutes). Then add the cardamom, cinnamon and garlic, and fry for a minute. Add the carrot and parsnip, toss it for one more minute to let the ingredients mingle and finally you can add the stock, turn down the heat and let it simmer for 20 minutes or until softened, depending on how big your carrot and parsnip pieces are. Puree it till smooth, add the yoghurt, honey, season according to taste and sprinkle some nutmeg.
Variations
-Add single cream or creme fraiche instead of yoghurt
-Experiment with different root vegetables, if I knew which bits were edible from my flatmate's carved pumpkin I would've made a pumpkin and cardamom soup
Posts
Love the color scheme, layout, photos and content. As a college student (but more importantly, a friend :D), I'll be an avid follower of this blog.
ReplyDeleteMmm, carrot and parsnip soup! I like the Disney reference, and the pictures are pretty. :)
ReplyDelete