Carrot Ginger Soup

This is one of my favorite soups. It has great flavor, can be frozen, and can be served hot or cold.

A note about one of the ingredients, fresh ginger. Fresh ginger is that funny little tuber that looks a bit like a misshaped nose. The most convenient way to store fresh ginger is in the freezer. Just put it into a small, zip lock bag and toss it in with the rest of the mystery foods that you forgot to label. Then, when a recipe calls for some fresh ginger, take out the frozen ginger, grate as much as you need, place it back into the bag, and throw it back into the freezer. It keeps almost forever. Just for giggles, label it, "Nose."

On with the recipe!

Ingredients:
1 T olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
2 T fresh ginger, grated
4 cups broth - vegetable or chicken
2 pounds of carrots, peeled and chopped or grated. The smaller the pieces the shorter the cooking time
Juice of 3 large or 4 small oranges. I sometimes use frozen orange juice concentrate, about 1/4 to 1/2 cup
Zest of 1/2 orange, which can be omitted if using frozen orange juice
Salt and white pepper

Use a big, heavy pot. Heat the oil over a medium heat and saute the onion along with half the garlic and ginger for about 10 minutes.

Add the stock and carrots and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and partially cover. Cook until the carrots are tender. This will take anywhere from 15 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the carrot pieces.

Strain the soup and put the solids into a food processor or blender, along with a splash of liquid. Do this in small batches so you don't end up festooning the kitchen walls with hot soup. Puree until smooth.

Return everything to the pot and add the rest of the ingredients. Season with salt and white pepper to taste.

Why white pepper? According to some people with a more discerning nose than mine, white pepper has a slight taste of ginger, which works well in carrot ginger soup. Also, if you use black pepper it could look like little specks of dirt floating around in your light colored soup.

Option for black pepper users - add some chopped parsley which will hide the black specks!

Enjoy!