Green Kitchen: Gingered Carrot Soup with Lime and Cilantro

Green Kitchen is a bi-weekly column about nutritious, inexpensive, and ethical food and cooking. It's penned by the lovely Jaime Green.

One thing I love about eating in season is the way it pushes me towards inspiration. Sometimes it's a beautiful bunch of red kale at a farmer's stand, or stalks of fresh Brussels sprouts in the fall. Or sometimes it's a giant bunch of carrots I bought a week and a half ago and totally forgot about.

Nature's bounty and my flightiness would've gotten us nowhere, though – nowhere past weeks and weeks of carrot stick snacks – without a little technological intervention in the form of my brand new immersion blender.

Holy goodness, has there ever been a more glorious kitchen invention? Fill a cup with milk and fruit, bzzp, you have a smoothie. Even better, when it comes to soup – you've got a steaming pot of broth and veggies? Bzzp, you have a silky puree. Oh, and also: YOU DON'T HAVE TO WASH YOUR WHOLE BIG BLENDER.

Sure, you puree soup in a normal blender in batches, but it just takes one loosely-screwed blender bottom and one splatter painting of hot soup up your kitchen walls and down your shirt to scare a lady off of that method for good.

I started with carrot ginger soup and ended up with something a little less sweet, and with a little more kick. It's not very spicy, but the tart lime juice punches it up. As I am, thankfully, not among the disadvantaged for whom cilantro tastes like soap, that seemed like a natural addition. Also because I will put cilantro in everything. Cilantro chocolate milkshakes may be next.

With cilantro and lime you might expect this to taste something like Mexican cuisine, as I did when it was cooking. But it turns out that the ginger, cumin, and coconut oil remind your mouth of curry, too. This is a meal without a country, then, but the carrots, onion, cilantro, and jalapeno all came from the farmers market, so it's at least decidedly local, too.

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If you like the look of this soup, you might also quite enjoy:

• Curried Zucchini Soup
• Hot and Sour Soup with Baby Bok Choy
• Tomato and Bread Soup

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Gingered Carrot Soup with Lime and Cilantro
Serves 4 as a main, 6 as a side.
Adapted from Epicurious.

2 tablespoons coconut oil (or neutral oil)
5 cups chopped carrots (about 2lb)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tablespoons diced ginger (about 1 inch squared)
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon cumin
5 cups vegetable broth or bouillon
2 limes, zest and juice
cayenne pepper to taste
handful of cilantro leaves, plus extra for garnish
1 cup Greek yogurt, plus extra for garnish

1) Put a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add oil. When hot, add onions and carrots. Saute until onions are soft, about 5 minutes.

2) Add ginger, garlic, jalapeno, and cumin. Saute 1 more minute.

3) Pour in broth (or bouillon dissolved in water). Bring to boil. Reduce to simmer, and cook uncovered until carrots are tender, about 25-30 minutes.

4) Remove soup from heat. Stir in lime juice. Let cool a bit, add cilantro, and puree in batches in a blender, or use an immersion blender right in the pot. Add cayenne pepper to taste.

5) Let soup cool to about room temperature. (An ice water bath in your sink is a good idea here – soup sitting warm for too long can spoil.) Stir in yogurt. Cover soup and refrigerate, at least four hours but preferably overnight.

6) When serving, garnish soup with a dollop of yogurt, a sprinkle of lime zest, and a few cilantro leaves. Pretty and delicious!

Approximate Calories, Fat, Fiber, Protein, and Cost Per Serving
4 servings: 185.5 calories, 8.5g fat, 5.3g fiber, 7g protein, $1.69
6 servings: 123.7 calories, 5.7g fat, 3.5g fiber, 4.7g protein, $1.12

Calculations
2 T coconut oil: 234 calories, 27.2g fat, 0g fiber, 0g protein, $0.80
5 c chopped carrots: 262 calories, 1.5g fat, 17.9g fiber, 6g protein, $1.00
1 medium onion: 42 calories, 0.1g fat, 1.8g fiber, 1.2g protein, $0.50
2 T diced ginger: 3 calories, 0g fat, 0.1g fiber, 0.1g protein, $0.20
1 jalapeno: 4 calories, 0.1g fat, 0.4g fiber, 0.2g protein, $0.50
1 clove garlic: 4 calories, 0g fat, 0.1g fiber, 0.2g protein, $.02
1 t cumin: 9 calories, 0.5g fat, 0.7g fiber, 0.4g protein, $0.02
5 c Better Than Bouillon: 25 calories, 0g fat, 0g fiber, 0g protein, $0.93
2 limes, zest and juice: 8 calories, 0g fat, 0.1g fiber, 0.1g protein $0.66
cayenne pepper: 0 calories, 0g fat, 0g fiber, 0g protein, $0.01
handful of cilantro leaves: 0 calories, 0g fat, 0g fiber, 0g protein, $0.10
1 c Greek yogurt (2% fat): 150 calories, 4.5g fat, 0g fiber, 20g protein $2.00
TOTAL: 742 calories, 34g fat, 21.1g fiber, 28.1g protein, $6.74
PER SERVING (TOTAL/4): 185.5 calories, 8.5g fat, 5.3g fiber, 7g protein, $1.69
PER SERVING (TOTAL/6): 123.7 calories, 5.7g fat, 3.5g fiber, 4.7g protein, $1.12