Carrot Beet Curry Soup

My oh my, it is one delicious soup. I admit, it may sound odd at first glance but I assure you, it is one of the most amazing soups I've had in a while. The sweetness of the carrots and golden beets, along with the curry and coconut milk make an amazingly filling meld of goodness. I originally found a recipe online for a vegetable curry that they decided to make into a soup and I decided to accommodate the basic idea to what I have on hand. It's an easy soup to make and you will not regret it.

Golden Beet & Carrot Curry Soup

3 large golden beets, cut into around .5 x 1 inch segments(wing it)
1 bunch of carrots(around five or six, I believe), cut into ≈1 inch segments
1 large onion, cut into crescents
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
2-3 tbsp Yellow Curry Powder(I opted toward the larger amount, as I love curry powder)
1/2-1 tsp salt
The zest of one lemon, cut into thin strips*

2-3 cups water
1 can of coconut milk
Lemon juice, to taste



*If you have lemongrass, cut the amount of ginger in half and omit the lemon zest. Use one six-inch piece of stalk, quartered and sliced thin instead.

There really was no methodology to making this soup to be honest; I had started cooking the beets in the water and decided I didn't want another repetitive beet & carrot soup so I winged making this instead. Basically, throw everything except the lemon juice in a large pot and simmer it until the beets and carrots are soft, then run it through a food processor. Add more salt or lemon juice to taste if you wish. It should probably take 30 minutes or so. Serve hot.

Carrot Beet and Ginger Soup

Courtesy of a friend of mine, I have an excellent and simple recipe for a carrot-beet soup. The only downside? It involves using mustard, which is ungodly hard to find because pretty much all of them have the ambiguous "natural flavorings" or white distilled vinegar, neither of which can be trusted. So I substituted ground mustard and rice vinegar(I think cider would work fine as well). The recipe calls for an equal amount of beets as carrots but since I use the smaller bunch carrots(which you always should if you're making soup, as they are much sweeter and better flavor) I always use more carrots than beets. Probably because I like carrots more than beets as well, but whatever.

Carrot Beet and Ginger Soup

7 carrots, roughly chopped

7 beets, roughly chopped

1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger

2 tablespoons dark amber maple syrup

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1/2 teaspoon ground mustard

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt & Pepper to taste

1. Peel the beets and chop them well. Don't bother peeling the carrots, just scrub the outside with the rough side of a sponge then chop.

2. Add olive oil, ginger, beets, and carrots to a large pot and saute until soft.

3. When soft, add maple syrup, vinegar, and ground mustard and stir well. Add water until the vegetables are covered and bring to boil and simmer for 20-25 minutes.

4. Put the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Add salt and pepper as needed.