Several days later, I called to see if I could get some details. Tom, the owner, answered and kindly shared: they roast the carrots with curry, coriander and turmeric; they cook celery, onions, and ginger stovetop; and they use coconut milk for creaminess. The soup, incidentally, is vegan. I set to work scrubbing the carrots, sweating the aromatics, toasting the coriander seeds and before long, the soup was nearly done. Before puréeing it, I borrowed a trick from Julia Turshen’s recipe for curried lentils: after dumping the can of coconut milk into the pot, I used the empty can as a measure, filling it up twice with water and adding it to the pot. There is nothing unusual about the flavors in this soup — carrot and ginger, a common match, often are found with curry and coconut — but I still find this extraordinarily good and exactly what I want to be eating right now. It’s a reminder, too, how layers of flavors — slowly sweated aromatics, roasted vegetables, toasted spices, big-flavor ingredients such as coconut milk — can build into something more than the sum of its parts. There is no stock in this soup, and there is no need for it. This soup comes together in about 45 minutes and you can prep as you go: while the carrots roast, chop the onions onions, celery, and ginger; and while those vegetables sweat, toast the spices. The carrots should finish roasting at about the same time the aromatics finish sweating. Once all the vegetables are cooked, you are minutes from completion. PS: ALL the soup recipes right here → Soup Here’s the play-by-play: gather your ingredients: Give your carrots a scrub; peel them if they are especially dirty. Roughly chop the carrots; toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper; roast at 425ºF for about 25 minutes. Meanwhile, finely chop the onions, celery, and ginger. Sweat them slowly in a few tablespoons of olive oil. Meanwhile, gather your spices and … … toast some coriander seeds, if you wish. Add the spices to the sweated vegetables. When the carrots begin caramelizing at the edges… …add them to the pot. Add a can of coconut milk, then fill it up with water and add it to the pot, too. (Do this twice). Bring to a simmer… …then purée. Serve with lots of bread, olive-oil toasted if you wish. 4.9 from 37 reviews *Only peel the carrots if they are especially dirty. My CSA carrots, even with a good scrubbing, must be peeled before using. Post peeling and trimming, my carrots weigh around 1.5 lbs. If you don’ have curry powder on hand or don’t feel like buying it, you could probably get away with this mix: 1 tablespoon turmeric, 1 tablespoon ground or whole coriander, 2 teaspoons ground or whole cumin, 1/2 teaspoon paprika. If using whole spices, toast first in a dry skillet, then crush with a mortar and pestle.
