Carrot Ginger Soup

This past week, I enjoyed Taste on Broadway with Pete, the girls, and several friends. It was a fun time! Taste on Broadway is similar to the Taste of Chicago and any other 'Taste ofs' that happen in a lot of cities. You eat, drink, listen to music and start again...eat, drink, and listen to music. The event was great and it wasn't overwhelmingly crowded, or at least the amount of people didn't annoy me.

One of the best recipes that I tried was a Carrot Ginger soup, which reminded me of a similar soup that I had in a cooking class. I cannot remember what cooking class this is from; therefore, there is no credit listed, but it is not my recipe!

Carrot Ginger Soup
- Olive Oil, one turn of the pan
- 1.5 lbs. of peeled carrots, chopped
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 rib of celery, chopped
- 1 medium-sized knob of fresh ginger, peeled and minced (it if difficult to put a measurement on this!)
- 1 cup of uncooked white rice
- 6 cups of chicken broth
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp marjoram
- Salt & Pepper to taste

In a dutch oven over medium heat, add olive oil, carrots, onion, celery, and uncooked rice. Once veggies are tender, add in chicken stock. Add ginger, bay leaf, and marjoram and simmer covered until rice is cooked; about 20-25 minutes. Stir occasionally. Remove bay leaves.

Puree soup in a blender or with an immersion blend. Note: If you are not already aware, you cannot just dump hot soup in a blender and blend. You have to do a little bit of soup at a time (maybe 2-3 cups) and hold down the top of the blender lid with a kitchen towel. The combination of heat and blending creates a lot of pressure and the lid can fly off, which will turn your kitchen a lovely shade of carrot orange. 

Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Recipe Alterations
- You can reduce one cup of cream until it coats the back of a spoon and top the soup with the cream.
- You can top the soup with cream or plain yogurt.
- You can top the soup with fresh herbs - maybe some parsley and chives.
- You can add a pinch of curry into the soup for some added flavor.