I made dinner this past weekend which had carrots as a side dish, and they were the best carrots I had ever had. That’s a huge statement since… It’s just a carrot; nothing to get too excited about. I steamed them first and then sautéed them in dried herbs till they softened and got all brown around the edges from their natural sugar and the oils they were cooking in. I had a dream last night (don’t we all dream about food?) that I made those same carrots into a soup.

Thus, this Carrot, Coconut and Ginger soup was born. And what a miracle.

This soup – much like the carrots from days ago – is the BEST soup I have ever made. Ever. And I’ve made a LOT of soups (see all soup recipes here).

You Will Need:

• Carrots (I do not recommend getting the small, already sliced or shredded carrots. You need what I will show below in a picture; the regular sized rainbow carrots. If you can only find orange ones that’s fine)
• Onion (I used a white onion but a sweet or yellow onion would be delicious)
• Olive Oil (I used a basil infused olive oil and one that we are infusing with oregano but, you can grab just plain olive oil)
• Coconut Oil (make sure it’s Unrefined and Virgin with the USDA Organic symbol on the label)
• Salt (We use Himalayan Pink Salt but, regular sea salt would be fine)
• Dried Herbs: Basil, Oregano and Ginger (make sure they are Organic)
• Veggies (Optional): Baby Potato, Zucchini and Yellow Squash (I suggest if you’re going to add veggies like I did, you get the tiny round potatoes. They are a great bite-sized potato that cooks quickly)
• Kale / Spinach (Optional): Make sure you get the baby leaves if you decide to add this

The first thing you’ll want to do is start steaming the carrots and the onion. We use the Lekue Steamer. They have them in all different sizes and prices. But choose whichever steaming method works best for you. Just make sure for each batch of this soup – which I found can serve up to three people – that you use one third of an onion and four medium sized carrots.

See below the type of carrots I referenced above. Depending on the color you want, you can choose the carrots that way. I wanted a lighter yellow so I went with two orange and two white – most similarly in size: medium.

Take the ends off with a knife and then slice down the middle and in half. You want to create a flat area that will absorb the spices and oils in the pan after you have steamed them.

Place them and the onion in the steamer.

I steamed them for six mins but, depending on your method it may take more or less time. When a knife can pierce through the carrots you can stop steaming them.

Heat some olive oil in a pan (you’ll want to coat the entire bottom of the pan, with some to spare). Add three tablespoons of coconut oil (the oils will be added to the soup for flavor so, this is important).

Then season the oil so that when you place the carrots cut-side down, they will sauté and soak in those flavors. I suggest you decide how much you would like based on your taste however, for reference, I used a generous amount of salt seeing as none of the veggies are naturally salty and, I don’t use stock or broth. I just use filtered water. I would say about a heaping teaspoon of salt (you can always add more later but you can’t remove it so, be discerning with the salt), a tablespoon of basil, a tablespoon of oregano and a two teaspoons of ginger.

Then, place the carrots cut-side down, making sure to get all the carrots to be flat as can be in the oil. Top with the onions – which should fall apart easily now, so take advantage of that and place them throughout the pan. Sprinkle overtop just a bit more salt.

Leave this all to sauté on medium high, waiting until you catch the pan bubbling.

At that point, take one of the carrots and flip them over – see if they’re browned or not. If they are, go ahead and stir everything, pushing the onions further down into the pan, making sure that you flip each carrot. If they’re not yet browned, let them sauté a bit longer.

When you have stirred them, reduce the pan to medium – letting them sit just a bit so the other sides can get some of that oil and herbs. Then turn off the heat and remove them in the pan to either your food processor or (if you have the Philips Soup Maker), the machine. If you don’t already have the soup maker, I recommend you get it – or one from another company. All of my soup recipes are made with that machine. It makes soup in 18 mins or less. It’s a massive time-saver.

Make sure however you choose to blend this soup, that you put everything from the pan (oil, veg and herbs) into the machine or food processor. That is fantastic flavor, it’s where the coconut flavor will be coming from and the oil creates a sheen and silkiness to the soup which may be my favorite part!

Add just filtered (or spring) water – I used the max line on the machine but if you’re using a food processor, add as much as you need to get the machine going to puree the veg, and then add it to a pot and finish adding enough water for the people you are serving. Let it combine and stay on medium / medium low. At which point you can taste it to see if you want to add additional salt.

Here’s the max line with the water in the machine.

The soup maker has a few buttons on the top that lets you choose the consistency of the soup as well as the temperature, allowing you to also make smoothies or sorbet. The last button is for simple blending. I used the button that is glowing – it’s the only button I use.

In the meantime, while your soup is finishing in either the machine or in a pot, take your original pan that should still have some oil and herbs in it that never poured out – and put in some chopped veg (this is optional but if you decide to do that, I used Zucchini, Yellow Squash and Baby Potatoes – enough for the people I was serving). Add just a bit more olive oil, coconut oil and only the oregano, basil and salt. Do not use any additional ginger as it’s a very potent spice in my opinion, and less is more with this simple soup.

This is the color and consistency of the soup from the machine. It’s very thick and creamy… With that gorgeous color.

If you decide to just plate as-is, like a purist (which I love), find something gorgeous to use. I think this soup lends itself to some long-forgotten (though not in my case; I borderline worship my bone china) bowl that you maybe haven’t used in a while. I wanted to show what that might look like with my grandmother’s china and some simple bits of fresh oregano.

If you wanted to add the veg like I did – you’ll want a nice large bowl that can accommodate. I like a wide, more shallow bowl for presentations like this. Plate the soup, add the veg (which you have remembered to stir a few times throughout their cooking – and tasted) adding finally some baby lettuce. I like baby kale.

There was so much to love in this soup. There wasn’t any flavor missing and it was glorious. I know people like to wait till autumn to have soups like this, but why? I could eat this every day! That bright cheery color, the depth of flavor between the ginger and the coconut oil… The creamy texture… And it will freeze beautifully.

If you even have any leftovers…

The bone china dishes are from Royal Worchester. The black soup bowls are from Pier 1.