Carrot Ginger Soup

In my first week of eating clean, I've found myself looking for comfort food that is healthy, yet satisfying to my taste buds, and my belly. If there's one thing that comforts me the most in the winter, it's soup! Who doesn't love a warm soup belly in the cold winter months? 

At work, we always serve the yummiest pureed perfections for lunch and I felt so inspired to create something new at home. I had a bunch of root vegetables in my fridge that were starting to look bored, so I gathered them all up and together they made this delicious Carrot Ginger soup. It's vegan friendly, gluten free, good for your health and ridiculously mouthwatering. 

Carrot Ginger Soup

2 tbsp cold pressed extra virgin olive oil

1 medium sized onion, diced

3 stalks of celery with leaves, chopped
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp sea salt, or to taste
1/2 tsp black pepper, or to taste
2 tbsp minced fresh ginger root
5-6 carrots, peeled and diced
1 medium to large sweet potato, peeled and diced
4 cups no salt vegetable broth (Plus 2 cups water if needed)
Pinch of chili flakes
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cloves)
Pumpkin seeds or fresh herbs such as coriander or parsley for garnish

In a large pot, heat olive oil and add the chopped onion and celery. Cook for a few minutes and then add salt, pepper and garlic. Once that's cooked to a nice soft texture, add ginger root, carrots and sweet potato. Cook on medium heat for about 4-5 minutes. 

Tip: Depending on what tool you're going to use to puree this, the size of the chopped veggie pieces won't matter. A handheld blender or food processor will most likely handle large chunks of fully cooked veggies. In my case, I was using my personal blender so I made sure everything was diced into smallish cubes. Do what works best for you.

Add vegetable broth. If it doesn't reach the top of the mix, add water until its just about covering the vegetables. Add chili flakes and and pumpkin pie spice. If you don't have pumpkin spice, a tiny bit of cloves or allspice will do!

Boil until carrots and sweet potato are tender. Let cool and puree in blender or food processor. Put it back in the pot and simmer. Do a taste test and add salt, pepper and spice to your liking. Best served the next day, and can be frozen for up to 2 months. Serves 8-10.

xo Amber