I remember a time when carrot and coriander soup used to be considered almost exotic. Sure, Brits made carrot soup, but coriander? Now that was fancy. These days, carrot and coriander suffers from being commonplace and supermarket shelves and chillers groan under the weight of bland and boring cartons of soup. Frankly, it's embarrassing for the carrots.
It seems to be a case of extremes--either the flavour of the carrot is dulled by copious amounts of cream or all salt has been omitted in the name of virtuous health. Where has the happy medium gone? Where is my delicious soup? I want my tastebuds to sit up and pay attention when I eat a bowl of soup, not sigh sadly.
As the old axiom says, "If you want something done right, do it yourself." So I did. Twice, in fact, as it was so good. And even better than that, my recipe is zero points on the Weight Watchers programme, which is a very good thing since Dave and I are guzzling it like little piggie-wiggies.
This is a triple-coriander soup--I used ground coriander, coriander stalks and finished off with a handful of chopped leaves. This wasn't just an exercise in frugality--the stalks add a certain je ne sais quoi to the soup. Still a coriander flavour, but different somehow. I used ground cumin because my old flatmate in Glasgow always threw it in, and it really is a perfect partner for coriander anyway. Garlic because... well, what is soup without garlic? The ginger brings out the natural sweetness of the carrots and the chilli just kicks it up a notch.
Finally, carrot and coriander is exotic again!
PS For more vegetable--not necessarily vegetarian, though--soups, visit Soup's On! at A Veggie Venture.
My carrot and coriander soup
WW (UK) points: 0 for the whole amount
1 medium onion, finely chopped
~800ml chicken stock
2 TSP ground coriander
1 TSP ground cumin
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1" of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
500g carrots, peeled and roughly sliced
small bunch of fresh coriander, divided into stalks and leaves and finely chopped
Dump the onions and enough chicken stock to cover them in a large saucepan. Cover, bring to the boil, and simmer briskly until the onion is translucent and has begun to 'fry' in the stock. Add the spices, ginger, garlic and chilli to the pan and cook, stirring constantly, until they're fragrant and have begun to change colour.
Add the carrots and chopped coriander stalks to the pan and stir well to combine. Pour over enough stock to cover the vegetables, cover and bring to the boil.
Simmer for about 25 minutes until the carrots are tender. Cool for about 15 minutes before liquidising to your desired consistency. Stir in the chopped coriander and season to taste.
If the soup is too thick, then thin down with some more stock, plain water, milk, or cream. The choice is yours, depending upon how virtuous you're feeling....
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Comments
Hi Angela ~ What a burst of creativity for carrot soup! Thanks so much for the contribution to Soup's On. I'm updating now so look for your link and several other great recipes shortly. (BTW "Deb's" blog was one of my very early favorites too.)
1. Posted by Alanna on February 18, 2007
Thanks, Alanna! I polished off the rest of the soup this afternoon and it was still wonderful :)
2. Posted by Angela![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.aspoonfulofsugar.net/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
on
February 20, 2007
This looks like a delicious version of a soup I used to make (far simpler). I never thought about it as a zero-points/diet soup before, so I'll definitely have to put it back in rotation.
Next time--and especially as the weather warms up--you should try adding a splash of fresh orange juice: gives the soup such a nice, bright touch.
3. Posted by littlebouffe![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.aspoonfulofsugar.net/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
on
February 26, 2007
This soup looks delicious!
4. Posted by Jennifer on March 13, 2007
I must try it... I love carrot & coriander soup.
Thank you for sharing.
Margot
5. Posted by Coffee & Vanilla on May 14, 2007
I made this soup and I added orange juice as "littlebouffe" suggested! Delicious!!
6. Posted by Coffee & Vanilla on May 20, 2007
Absolutely loved it!!! Simple but delicious soup.
7. Posted by Lyubov on July 3, 2007
Loved the recipe so I have had to post it to My Cookery book on Foodari so i can find it easily again and share with others! :)
8. Posted by Sarah on December 17, 2007
Great soup recipe. Loved it.
9. Posted by Graham Walsh on December 22, 2007
Nice soup, but found too hot, so next time will leave out chilli!
10. Posted by Audrey Carson on January 24, 2008
For even more deliousness, I added 3/4c white wine and simmered the soup for an extra 15 minutes.
11. Posted by Sara on January 29, 2008
Hi there. I've just made this soup - it is fantastic!!!
I have been dieting with WW and usually make a free vegetable soup during the week to help keep the hunger at bay, but I was getting bored with the same old flavour. I punched in "carrot soup" on my search engine and I'm sooooooooooo pleased I stumbled across this recipe. The flavour is fantastic, and the kick from the chilli just makes it, plus it is so cheap to make.
Thanks......!!
12. Posted by Lynne on January 29, 2008
Thanks, everyone! I'm glad this soup is proving so popular--it's been a real favourite in our household over the winter
13. Posted by Angela![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.aspoonfulofsugar.net/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
on
February 3, 2008
Thanks so much for the carrot soup recipe Im off to the supermarket to get fresh coriander and pepper now.
14. Posted by Bev on February 18, 2008
A really lovely soup. I found this blog by googling carrot soup! Have now bookmarked it and am looking forward to trying out some of your other recipes ... thanks for sharing!
15. Posted by Max on April 17, 2008
This soup is really great! It works as a cold soup, too. I agree with others that the chili may make it a bit too hot (the ginger already adds heat on its own). I added half a cucumber (chopped) before homogenising, and that helped to cool things a bit. I hadn't any orange juice but I'll try that next time.
16. Posted by David Griffith on April 23, 2008
It's simmering away downstairs right now... smells AMAZING!! Thank you very much Angela :)
17. Posted by Anna on June 11, 2008
I made this today, it was delicious.
Used vegetable stock instead of chicken. Worked very well.
I added two small chillies and didn't deseed - slightly too hot!
18. Posted by Sonali on June 23, 2008