Today I made this wonderful soup for our lunch. It was delightful, not mention really filling and satisfying.
Here's the list of ingredients:
2 medium onions, chopped small.
3 organic celery stalks, scrubbed and thinly sliced
Approx. 10-12 organic carrots, scrubbed and sliced into thin rounds.
2 cloves of garlic, minced.
Sea salt and pepper to taste.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
***Assemble these items in a soup pot or dutch oven. Cook over medium low heat until the onions are translucent.***
Next, pour in about 3 cups of water (or enough top almost cover the veggies). Put a lid on and simmer until the carrots are done.
I almost always have leftover brown rice and/or quinoa in my fridge. I used quinoa in this recipe (my preference) because it's so packed with protein and has such a delicate taste. If you aren't aware of the healthiness of quinoa, it is a complete protein, which means it contains all 9 essential amino acids. It is also a good source of manganese, magnesium, folate and phosphorous.
What enables you to make a creamy carrot soup is the addition of the quinoa. It thickens, smooths and enriches the soup. I used about 2 1/2 cups of quinoa in it today. (and about a quarter of a cup of leftover brown rice that needed to go somewhere.) lol I put approximately a half teaspoon of nutmeg and cinnamon in it too.
I got to use my new immersion blender today for the first time, to blend the soup and make it all creamy. You can use a regular blender if you don't have one...just be careful, because it's hot.
As you can see from the picture, this soup was as thick as a stew. (Probably that extra rice, lol). You can easily thin it down with hot water if you choose, but we ate it just like this.
It was ready in under an hour (I'm a pretty fast chopper) and even if you have to cook the quinoa, it cooks in 15 minutes or so, and can cook while you're simmering the carrots.
I topped it with a sprinkling of dill and a bit of chopped cilantro (because I had some in the fridge).
