Colorfully Good Carrot Soup

Returning from our nearly month-long  NH road trip home means getting back to cooking – at home. We did a fair amount of that during our NH road trip at the extended stay residence. But, the cooking facilities there were limited to an electric cooktop and microwave – no oven. On the plus side, we had a full-size refrigerator. We went grocery shopping and nearly always cooked breakfast and most dinner meals. Lunch was usually our daily meal out while on our road trips around the state.
When we left, we figured that whatever was left in the veggie garden would be unusable when we returned home, so we gave veggies away before leaving. WOW were we surprised when checking the garden last week to find peppers and eggplants, and carrots too!
Despite a disappointing – almost nonexistent – carrot harvest last year, Grenville planted them again this year, but he wasn't expecting great success. Boy was he WRONG, cause we were pleased to find a lot of carrots. While these are not  the prettiest looking carrots, we plan to use them in as many recipes as possible.
This weekend, some of the carrots were peeled, cut up and used for in a new soup recipe – carrot soup.  It was fairly easy process using my favorite kitchen tools – a food processor and an immersion blender. While I used canned, low-sodium chicken broth, a homemade stock, if available, would add more depth of flavor. After checking MANY recipes, I found one which added something very different – orange juice.
Carrot Soup
This recipe is both vegetarian and vegan and also low fat since it doesn’t use cream or other dairy products.

• 4 tbsp butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 leeks, sliced
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 3-4 C sliced carrots
• 1-1/2 tbsp ground coriander
• 4-6 C chicken or vegetable broth (homemade stock is best)
• 1-1/2 C orange juice
• salt & pepper
• parsley or cilantro

1. Sauté leeks, onions and celery in butter until soft.
2. Add carrots and broth and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 30-40 minutes or until carrots have softened.
3. Add ground coriander and orange juice and stir to mix in.
4. Working in small batches, use a blender or immersion blender to puree until smooth. You can also leave the soup a bit chunky.
5. If necessary, thin the soup with a little more broth or orange juice (your taste preference).
6. Season with salt and pepper and add some parsley or cilantro before serving.

There’s nothing better to make the kitchen smell wonderful on a chilly and rainy fall day than a pot of homemade soup on our nearly new stove.

But the best part is when it’s done and ready to be served for dinner. We enjoyed ours with fresh-baked biscuits.