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Yesterday, a few of you expressed interest for the Creamy Sweet Potato Bake recipe, so I thought, why not kick off the Meal Planning Week with this casserole dish? The rainy and gloomy weather suited it well too.
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Sadly, it was a bust!
It turned out bland and the flavours were just off. It had all the right components- kale, sweet potato, fusilli pasta, homemade bread crumbs, with plenty of creamy sauce, but they just didn’t add up for me.
Strangely enough, Eric loved this casserole. With ketchup, that is! He said he will eat leftovers for lunch so at least it won’t go to waste.
I first saw Joy’s Carrot Apple Ginger Soup when I was in the depths of my flu, unable to speak or taste anything (except sugar). This bright orange soup called my name and I thought it was just what I needed to heal myself. I also figured a soup this gorgeous and bright would awaken my taste buds.
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But that soup never happened. In my dreams, maybe!
It was a good idea in theory, but I was too sick to move let alone cook something. I just pretended what it might be like to eat this soup when sick. I’m sure it would have been very healing. :)
Yesterday, I was feeling rather energetic and this soup just had to be made. The last thing I wanted was to eat another bland tasting dish!
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Carrot Apple Ginger Soup
Lightly adapted from Joy The Baker.
Yield: ~5 cups
Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil + more for garnish
- 1 small onion, diced (1 cup diced onion)
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tbsp fresh grated ginger
- 1 large apple
- 1.5 pounds carrots, peeled and chopped (~5 cups)
- 4 cups vegetable broth (I used full sodium)
- pinch of nutmeg
- Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Directions:
1. In a large pot, add 1 tbsp olive oil over low-medium heat. Add chopped onion and cook for about 5 minutes until translucent. Add minced garlic and ginger and cook for another couple minutes on low. Add chopped apple and carrots and cook for a few minutes more.
2. Add the vegetable broth, stir, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low-medium and simmer for 20 minutes, or until tender.
3. Carefully transfer this mixture into a blender (or you can use an immersion blender probably), add a pinch of nutmeg, and blend until smooth. You might need to do this in 2 batches depending on the size of your blender. You don’t want the soup more than halfway full or it might explode through the top. Make sure to allow steam to escape through the top of the blender lid too.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste. You can also thin the soup out a bit with more broth. Serve and garnish with freshly ground pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. It goes lovely with fresh bread and Earth Balance. Makes 5 delicious cups!
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I made a few light modifications to the original recipe:
- I reduced the olive oil from 3 tbsp down to 1 tbsp
- I used 2 garlic cloves instead of 1
- I used a large apple instead of a small apple
I had a feeling this soup was either going to blow my mind or be a huge flop.
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But, how can you go wrong with apple, carrots, and ginger?
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You just can’t.
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So strap on those goggles and get chopping!
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I feel like we are far enough along in our relationship that I can reveal to you my onion chopping secret.
Meet, the Onion Goggle.
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OSGMOM gave me these a while ago and I was hesitant to use them for a long time, but now I don’t chop an onion without them! They don’t prevent tears 100%, but I would say they have cut down onion related tears about 80-90%. I only wished they worked on PMS tears too!
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My favourite time to cook is at sunset- I love the way the light beams into the kitchen. :)
When you begin cooking down the soup, it will look bland. Very bland. I was a bit nervous at this point.
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After simmering for 20 minutes, transfer it to a blender (you may have to do this in batches as you don’t want to fill it more than halfway), add a pinch of nutmeg, and blend until smooth. You could probably also use an immersion blender if you have one.
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The soup came alive! Just look at that gorgeous colour.
I got a bit too excited because I burned my tongue trying it! When will I ever learn?
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I was really worried the soup was going to taste like this…
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Instead of this…
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To my delight, this was one of the best homemade soups I have tasted. I was afraid that the ginger was going to be too spicy for me, but it wasn’t at all. It was just perfect in every way.
You must try this soup. I will be making it again and again…it’s in the vault!
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Carrots ‘N’ Cake Book Giveaway Winner
Jillian you are the lucky winner of the Carrots ‘N’ Cake giveaway! Congrats! Please email me angela [at]ohsheglows.com and we will get you a copy sent out. Thank you everyone for participating!
I’ve recently gotten hooked on carrot and ginger juice. This soup looks wonderful. Hey, it’s almost lunch time…off to make soup!
Ooooh, I already make a soup like this with carrots and ginger, but I LOVE the idea of adding apple!! Mmmm!
Oh my gosh, I had never heard of onion goggles. Those need to be in my kitchen yesterday! I have the worst reaction to onions, no matter what I do, but I love them and put them in basically 90% of the dishes I make. Thank you for mentioning them. :)
And that soup looks so vibrant and delicious! Great photography, as always.
I obviously need to get carrots this weekend!
Also, my boyfriend HATES ketchup and gets so offended when I put it on anything he cooks. I think it’s hilarious and because I’m an instigator, have been known to put it on things I wouldn’t have tried with ketchup otherwise. *is a bad person* :D
But I agree with Eric, if a dish is mediocre, ketchup is one of the things that could turn it around for me.
I also love dipping veggies in tomato paste.
haha..that is so Eric!! He’s like ‘nothing a little ketchup can’t fix’ and then he proceeds to pour half the bottle on it.
That’s how my little brother is! I always ask him to please try one bite before adding ketchup because he will put ketchup on everything–even if it is already amazing!
I just made something really similar to your Creamy Sweet Potato Bake and for the topping I used:
* 1/2 cup almond meal
* 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
* 1/2 tsp basil
* 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
* 1/2 tsp garlic powder
* 1/4 tsp Himalayan rock salt
The smoked paprika was AWESOME. It made the dish sing. Then for the veggie “insides” I used nutritional yeast and liquid smoke (just a tad) among other things. It worked out SO well. I don’t know if that helps, but thought I’d pass it along!
That soup looks delicious too!
Haha the onion goggles are great!
And the soup looks so bright and delicious! I saw it on Joy’s sight, and have been meaning to try it. Hopefully I’ll get around to it this weekend!
hahah those onion goggles are wayyyy cool! you’re so funny Angela. ;P boy looks can be deceiving, b/c that dish that was a “flop” looks amazing.
Such a shame isnt it…and it took me a LONG time to make! ahhh
Onions makes me sneeze, not cry! Anyone else?
thats funny! Dark chocolate make me sneeze…every single time!
The colors are SO vibrant! That will definitely kick your flu out the door!
http://goldhearted.etsy.com
That soup looks awesome! The color is amazing! What a unique combo of flavors…I can’t wait to try it!
The onion goggles work???? They’re functional AND a jaunty fashion statement! :)
Ooh my Dad used to make a soup with apple in and it’s so, so nice as it’s sweet but not overkill! He used to do parsnip and apple and it was AMAZING!!!!
Can you say “drooling?” Because that’s what I’m doing right now.
The downside of reading your blog is that since I’m at college, I don’t have the means to make most of your recipes. Mmmmmm. It’s a shame, really.
Lovely photos as always!
“They don’t prevent tears 100%, but I would say they have cut down onion related tears about 80-90%. I only wished they worked on PMS tears too!”–
Oh that is classic. Wouldnt that be great :)
I linked Joy’s soup in my last weekly roundup of great food i had seen around the sphere. Im sure you were linked in that post too. I link you every week I think b/c you always have something great.
Bland soup is the worst and glad this was neither bland nor too spicy from the ginger.
And I take it that’s what a RAW image looks like before Lightroom or post editing. I never shoot in RAW. Maybe I need to? I edit all my pics anyway now…whodda thunk that I would edit them all, but I do. I can’t publish them any other way now. Amazing what some photography and a dslr and some lenses will just do to ya, isn’t it!
Darn about the creamy sweet potato bake :( but this soup looks yummy and very pretty if soup can be referred to as pretty :)
I have to make this!! Looks so good. Bright orange is always a winner in my book. Plus, good to hear you sounding a bit more like yourself :)
haha…as much as I can say that without actually knowing you!!
A chef told me that onions make you cry because they irritate your smelling receptors. Avoiding breathing through the nose while chopping onions should reduce the crying effect. I still close my eyes :)
That soup looks delicious! I totally need a pair of PMS and onion goggles – may some type of 2 in 1 combo. For now, I will just keep having my fiance (who is in culinary school) chop all the onions and I will drink wine. Good plan.
Such a gorgeous soup! I’m sad the sweet potato casserole didn’t work out. It sounds really good.
Awesome Goggles! Every time I slice into an onion I always think this time I won’t cry, but I do.
What was in the creamy sauce for the Sweet Potato Bake?