Carrot-Ginger Soup

Serves 6
INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, minced
table salt
2 tablespoons fresh, grated ginger
3 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 ½ pounds carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped (about 5 cups)
¾ cup whole milk
¼ cup orange juice (fresh squeezed is preferable)
ground black pepper
1 tablespoon minced fresh chives

DIRECTIONS:
1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and ½ teaspoon of salt. Cook until the onion softens, about 3 – 5 minutes.
2. Stir in the ginger and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
3. Now stir in the carrots and broth. Bring to a simmer and cook until the carrots become tender, about 10 – 13 minutes.
4. Puree the soup in batches in a blender until smooth. Do not fill the blender past the halfway mark or the heat will cause the soup to explode through the top. (Alternatively, you could puree the soup using an immersion blender.)
5. Return the pureed soup to the pot and stir in the milk and orange juice. Bring to a simmer but do not boil because high heat can cause curdling. Remove from heat and season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with chives immediately before serving. This soup can be refrigerated up to three days and gently reheated in a saucepan.

***You may substitute fresh thyme, sorrel, marjoram, or sweet basil for the chives. This soup is also nice if topped with toasted marcona almonds, pistachios, pepitas, nasturtiums, or drizzled with an infused oil. This soup pairs very nicely with the wheat berry salad from the week of September 24 – 31.

**Ginger is sometimes very tricky to peel. In this recipe, the ginger should be fresh. Often you can freeze ginger and then grate it quite easily while frozen. To peel the fresh ginger for this recipe, however, try using a spoon to scrape off the skin from the knob of ginger. A spoon navigates the curves of a knob of ginger much more readily than a knife so that you waste less of this spicy rhizome.

Recipe from a secret source