It's hard to know exactly what to eat when the temperature edges above 80 on the same day that fall leaves reach their peak. A fall heatwave hardly inspires cravings.
This light and zippy ginger-carrot soup seems about right, though. It's a vibrant soft orange hue and has a generous amount of ginger with a hint of apple and lemon. Once everything's cooked through and tender, the soup is pureed until velvety smooth.
For dinner, I served the soup with sheet pan grilled cheese, but regular croutons and a big green salad would be perfect, too.
About Carrots
Due to a miscommunication (me writing "5 pounds carrots" on a shopping list for my partner when I really just wanted two pounds), I recently came into five pounds of storage carrots. Storage carrots – the large, deep-orange carrots in the 2- or 5-pound bags – are denser and generally sweeter than the fresher kind sold with greens attached. I like storage carrots in broths and stews where the concentrated flavor is useful. But for roasting and cooking, I prefer carrots with their greens attached. Which is all to say, I used hulking storage carrots here, but fresh carrots will yield a lighter, more delicate carrot flavor.
Unless my carrots seem to have been through a lot, with deep ruts or caked-in dirt, I don't peel them. Instead, I use a coconut fiber vegetable scrubber which is much quicker and easier than peeling.
Carrot, Apple, and Ginger Soup
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