Feast is gorgeous and I feel (almost) guilty that it only cost me a dollar at the library bookstore a few months ago. (And it looks brand new!) I am looking forward to cooking more from it as I have quite a few recipes tagged.
Feast says, "At the world's greatest restaurants, the soup, no matter how simple it is, is always garnished in a way that makes it seem so much greater than the sum of its parts. And usually, it is. This soup is the perfect example of how easy it can be to do that at home. A simple carrot soup, inspired by a hearty bunch of young carrots from the garden, came together one night in my kitchen right before popcorn and a movie. A few plucky kernels made their way to the top of the soup, along with chives and a drizzle of olive oil, and the memorable little combo stuck. This is now our house carrot soup."
Carrot Soup with Chives and Popcorn
From Feast by Sarah Copeland
(Serves 4 to 6)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 garlic cloves, smashed (I used 3)
1 (1-inch) piece peeled fresh ginger, chopped
2 lbs carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
4 to 5 cups vegetable stock
1 sprig fresh thyme (optional) (I used 3)
sea salt and black pepper
2 cups fresh carrot juice
To serve:
1 to 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
12 cup full fat yogurt
handful popped popcorn
3 to 4 Tbsp chopped/snipped fresh chives
In a large soup pot heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the carrots and enough stock to cover them (4 cups for a thicker soup, 5 if you like your soup thinner), and the thyme (if using) and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper, cover loosely and reduce the heat to low.
Simmer soup until the carrots are completely tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove the thyme sprig and discard. Blend the soup until smooth in a blender (in batches if necessary) or with an immersion blender. Return the soup to the pot and stir in the carrot juice with a wooden spoon. Reheat soup over low if needed to warm through. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Keep warm until ready to serve.
Ladle the soup into bowls and drizzle with the olive oil. Top each bowl with a dollop of yogurt, pooped popcorn kernels, and a sprinkle of chives. Serve immediately.
Notes/Results: This is a simple carrot soup with lots of carrot flavor. I used good fresh carrots with their tops still on (the tops are being turned into pesto this week) and cold-packed carrot juice from a local juice producer. I did up the garlic and thyme slightly--I like a lot of flavor, but the carrots are the star--so if you are not a fan, this is not your soup. ;-) The popcorn is a great topping although I would recommend just starting with a couple kernels on top and serving the soup with a bowl of popcorn so everyone can add their own and it remains crunchy. The chives and yogurt are a nice touch too--although you can omit the yogurt or use a non-dairy version to make the soup vegan. Simple to make, pretty to look at and good to eat--I would happily make it again.
We have some tasty dishes waiting in the Souper Sundays kitchen this week, let's have a look!
Tina of Squirrel Head Manor is here with a delicious Chicken Taco Chili and says, "This. Is. So. Good. ... I actually prepared this in the morning while coffee was brewing, it's that easy. If I had to cook chicken it would obviously take longer but as it happened, I had some handy so I diced it into chunks.You toss it all in one pot to heat. If you wanted a vegetarian version I'm sure you could use tofu as tofu absorbs the flavors of other ingredients."
I am so excited to have my friend Beth Fish Reads share her Tuscan White Bean Soup this week! I have been joining in her Weekend Cooking event for a while now and I am happy to welcome her to Souper Sundays. She says, "The original recipe for this delicious bean soup was written for the slow cooker, so if you don't have a pressure cooker, click the link and follow the directions. I made a few other changes, most notably, I had some chorizos to use up, so I used them instead of pancetta. Also, I didn't feel like chopping the rosemary, so I just dropped the sprigs in whole. I made this in an electric pressure cooker, but you could use a stovetop cooker."
And here at Kahakai Kitchen, I am a big fan of Ina Garten's Crunchy Iceberg Salad with Creamy Blue Cheese that I made to pair with a book review this week. Instead of a wedge of lettuce, a thick slice is covered with the thick and creamy blue cheese dressing and crisp radish, celery and green onion pieces are piled on top, along with chunks of blue cheese. So much flavor and texture and so pretty on the plate too!
Thanks to everyone who joined me this week at Souper Sundays!
About Souper Sundays:
Souper Sundays is back with a new format of a picture link each week where anyone interested can post their soups, salads, or sandwiches any time during the week and I post a recap of the entries the following week.)
(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here.
If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...
To join in this week's Souper Sunday's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:
- Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you. Also please see below for what to do on the post you link up to be included.
On your entry post (on your blog):
- Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back on your post, it will be removed.)
- You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (optional).
Have a happy, healthy week!
Feast is beautiful! Lucky you to have picked it up on sale. AND, next time I'll remember to add Souper Sundays to my post. :))
ReplyDeleteSounds like an interesting book 'Feast' and yes, so lucky to pick it up on sale. I will follow the link you shared. I do like carrot soup, but have not yet got round to putting popcorn in place on croutons on my soup - has to be done and hopefully this will be the year.
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