Summer is supposedly right around the corner, but if you are anywhere near North Dakota or Montana you will notice we are still having some colder days. At times it can be tough deciding what is for meals, maybe you are wanting something lighter depending on the weather. Salads seem to take off during the Spring and Summer months but another great idea is to keep those soups rolling.
Gazpacho (gaz-pa-cho) is a Spanish-style soup served cold. Traditionally this is a raw soup made up of tomatoes, vegetables and spices… but.. if you have read any of my other posts you will have learned I like to break a few rules. This soup is my current rule breaker, cooking a soup and chilling it for later.
This carrot ginger soup is obviously not raw (as indicated in the title), but have you ever tried blending carrots…..? They don’t blend very well… So, once cooked they blend very nicely, you can then allow for the soup to cool by putting it in the fridge for a few hours. Then ta-da you have yourself a similar approach to the traditional Spanish-style soup.
If the weather is colder you could have warm soup, if the weather is warmer you have a cold soup, it can do both, you could call it a jack of all seasons! (:
Brief spotlight on the two: If carrots and ginger were in a play together, I would say carrots often get the main role and ginger would be the man working the curtains. Ginger often gets over looked, but has so much potential for flavoring and nutritional purposes. Here in the United States ginger gets over looked ALOT, not only is it hard to peel but it isn’t in many recipes. You don’t find it in pizza recipes or hamburgers and honestly we thrive off those here in the States.
So… here is a fun recipe to challenge your flavor pallet.
Ginger peeling tip: use a spoon. When using a spoon face it upside down from what you would use it when eating, using a downward motion when trying to peel the ginger.
Pressure Cooker Carrot Ginger Soup
Ingredients
- 3 cups Vegetable Broth
- 1 Yellow Onion (chopped)
- 2 cloves Garlic (minced)
- 2 tbsp. Ginger (fresh, minced)
- 6 each Carrots (chopped)
- 2 tsp Thyme (fresh, chopped)
- 1 1/4 cup Coconut Milk (full fat, from a can)
Instructions
- Turning the pressure cooker to sauté mode, add a splash of vegetable broth, the chopped onion and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Then add the minced garlic and ginger, sautéing for 1 minute.
- Once onion, ginger and garlic is done, turn the sauté mode off. Then add carrots, thyme and the rest of the broth. Put the lid on pressure cooker and set to “sealing” then press manual/pressure cooker and cook for 5 minutes on high pressure. Once finished, release the pressure manually.
- Carefully remove the lid, and purée the soup using an immersion blender or a blender, if you do not have an immersion blender you can use a large counter blender (may get slightly messy but an option)
- Add the coconut milk and stir to combine. Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition Highlights Ginger:
In Asian medicine dried ginger was used to treat stomach aches, diarrhea and nausea. Today ginger has been used as a dietary supplement for nausea during post-surgery, chemotherapy, pregnancy, and to at times to help alleviate rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis pains. The National Institute of Health has some supporting research that shows correlations between these benefits. However, herbal supplements are difficult to monitor and/or administer because they affect each individual differently; just because one thing works for one person, does not mean it is a one shoe fits all. So, if you are wanting to experiment give it a go!
