One of the best/fun parts of my Nutrition program is the recipe we are required to make at the end of each class. It forces me to make something I more thank likely haven’t made before. Each time I do it I realize that cooking really isn’t as tricky, difficult or messy as I had always believed. A perfect example of this is Carrot-Ginger Soup.
I love Carrot-Ginger soup. It’s one of my favorites. I never make it because it has always seemed like a lot of work. Well, not work exactly, I guess more of a big mess. Back when I wasn’t cooking much Carrot-Ginger soup was definitely too much “work” but now that I cook all the time making Carrot-Ginger soup was easy. It wasn’t even very messy, the kitchen cleaned up in a snap. I probably wouldn’t have tried to make this soup if it had not been the required recipe for my current class. I’m so glad I had to make it. It came out great and it reminded me that I LOVE Carrot-Ginger soup.
I bet most of you have a great recipe for Carrot-Ginger soup but I’m wondering how many of you have ever heard of “Cashew Cream”. I had never heard of it. LOVE IT! Cashew cream was the little added bonus recipe that went with the Carrot-Ginger soup recipe I had to make for my class.
Carrot-Ginger Soup
- 3 pounds of carrots washed and cut into 1 inch pieces
- 3 cups of cold water (I used a mix of water, chicken broth and 1 cup of bone broth)
- 1 teaspoon Sea Salt
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cups chopped yellow onions
- 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/8 teaspoon ground coriander
- pinch of red pepper flakes
What To Do
- Use a big pot, 6 to 8 quarts. This recipe makes a LOT of soup, great for leftovers.
- Heat the olive oil in your giant pot and then drop the chopped onions in. Let the onions get soft and golden.
- When the onions look the way you want them drop in the carrots, ginger, curry, cumin, cinnamon, allspice, coriander and red pepper flakes. Stir it all up.
- Add the 8 cups of liquid. I have tried to figure out how to get my family to eat bone broth so when I have a recipe that uses “liquid” I sneak some in. You can use plain water or broths or a combination – the combo worked well for me.
- Cook for about 20 minutes and test the carrots. If they are soft enough to stick a fork in they are done. I had to cook my carrots for about 35 minutes.
- This is where it gets a bit messy – purée the soup in your blender or food processor. It’s a lot of soup so you’ll probably have to do it in batches. You may need to add more liquid if it blends up too think (mine is think, but that’s the way I like it).
- Add the blended soup back into the pot and reheat if necessary. Mine was really hot so I didn’t need to reheat.
When the soup was first done I didn’t think it had enough ginger. It’s really hard for me to taste all the flavors when it’s hot. Once it cooled down a bit I found it much more flavorful. I did end up add a bit more dried ginger, not much but a little.
O.k., so now we are to the Cashew Cream part. This stuff is so good. All it is, is cashews, water, a little salt, lemon juice and nutmeg blended together. It’s creamier and lighter than a nut butter. It really is a cream. Tasty!
Cashew Cream
- 1 cup raw cashews
- 1 cup water
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- pinch of grated nutmeg
If you have a super sonic blender, like a Vita-mix just dump everything in and blend for about 30 seconds and you’re done. If you have a regular blender you will probably need to chop up the nuts in a food processor before added them to the blender. You may need to blend for about 3 minutes in a regular blender. Blend until it looks like a very creamy, smooth milk shake.
The Cashew Cream is delicious. It’s really, really good in the soup and it looks pretty. I have also been eating it with a spoon and today I decided to dip my apple slices in it – yum. Dipping apple slices in it was genius, if I do say so myself. It’s a lot thinner than nut butter but it’s really rich so I use very little on the apple slices. When I use regular nut butter on my apple slices I probably eat close to 3 tablespoons.
I’m sure there are just tons of things you can use the cashew cream with/for. If you have any great ideas let me know. If I keep eating it like pudding I’m going to get a bellyache!
Eat Well, Feel Good, Have Fun!
I’m Amy a board certified holistic nutritionist, certified functional nutritionist and lifestyle practitioner and certified Life Coach. I help women in midlife understand the changing needs of their body so that they can stop dieting and lose weight permanently. At 56 I live what I teach. Don’t believe the story that your best years are behind you. They are not. Your best years are just starting!