I love soups, they’re perfect for these cold Texas days (it’s 41°F today – brrrr!).  We went to a specialty grocery store the other day, and I fell in love with the Carrot-Ginger soup they had there.  I wanted to recreate it at home and guess how they made it.  My version is pretty darn close! This recipe is so good, and easy to make too.  My baby even liked it!  The doctor says she can start eating adult foods, but obviously chopped up for the mouths of babes.  But since this was already pureed, we had no need to chop it up.  Woohoo!  If you have an immersion blender, use that.  I used Ngoc’s immersion blender when I was back in California and loved it!  But if you’re like me and don’t have one, a regular blender works fine.

Fun facts: You can use a pound of baby carrots here.  That’s what I did, since I didn’t want to peel the carrots, and baby carrots are full-sized carrots anyways, but mechanically separated to look the baby size.  To make this vegetarian, simply use vegetable broth.  Also, a pearl onion is related to the leek, and doesn’t have a strong onion flavor like your typical onion has.  For the ginger, peel a stalk and rub it against a Microplane grater until tiny flecks come out the other side.  It’ll make your life easier!

Carrot-Ginger Soup

Serves 4

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

4 pearl onions, skinned and quartered

1 lb baby carrots

2 14.5-oz cans chicken broth

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons grated ginger

1.  In a soup pot, saute the onions in olive oil over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.  Add the baby carrots, chicken broth, water, and grated ginger.  Bring to a boil and cook for about 30 minutes, until a fork pierces the carrots easily.  Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until pureed.  If using a blender, wait until the soup has cooled until blending.  Heat pureed mixture over medium heat until lightly simmering before serving.