Carrot-Ginger Soup with Cashew Cream
Carrot Soup
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cups chopped yellow onions
3 pounds carrots washed and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger, or 1 teaspoon ground
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 small pinch of red pepper flakes
8 cups cold water or Vegetable Broth
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon maple syrup
In a 6- to 8-quart pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions with a pinch of salt and sauté until golden. Add the carrots, ginger, cumin, cinnamon, and red pepper flakes and stir to combine. Deglaze the pan with 1 cup of water or broth, then add the remaining 7 cups of liquid and 1 teaspoon of salt. Cook until the carrots are tender, about 20 minutes.
In a blender, purée the soup in batches, adding the cooking liquid first and then the carrots. Blend until very smooth. Add additional liquid to reach the desired thickness. Return to the pot, add the maple syrup, and reheat slowly.
Cashew Cream (makes about 3 1/2 cups)
2 cups raw cashews
2 cups water
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice or orange juice
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
Grind the cashews in a mini food processor or nut grinder to give them a head start in the blender. (If you have a Vita-Mix, you can skip this step.) Put the water in a blender, then add the lemon juice, salt, nutmeg, and cashews and blend until creamy smooth. This takes several minutes, but your taste buds will reap the rewards of your patience.
Reprinted with permission from One Bite at a Time. Copyright © 2009 by Rebecca Katz with Mat Edelson, Ten Speed Press, a division of the Crown Publishing Group, Berkeley, CA.
Rebecca Katz is a nationally-recognized culinary translator and expert on the role of food in supporting optimal health, Rebecca has a Masters of Science degree in Health and Nutrition Education, and received her culinary training from New York’s Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts. As a consultant, speaker, teacher and chef, Rebecca works closely with patients, physicians, nurses, and wellness professionals to include the powerful tool of nutrition in their medical arsenal. She is the founder and director of the Healing Kitchens Institute at Commonweal, which is dedicated to transforming lives through nutritional science and culinary alchemy. http://www.commonweal.org/programs/HKI.html
Rebecca is the author of The Longevity Kitchen: Satisfying Big Flavor Recipes Featuring the Top-16 Age Busting Power Foods (Ten Speed Press), which will be published in February, 2013 along with the award-winning cookbook The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen: Nourishing Big-Flavor Recipes for Cancer Treatment and Beyond (Ten Speed Press, 2009), and One Bite at a Time: Nourishing Recipes for Cancer Survivors and their Friends (Second Edition).
A myriad of food related experiences, including a sojourn to Italy, where she studied Mediterranean cuisine from chefs and signoras from Florence to Sicily, shaped Rebecca’s philosophy that health-supportive food must taste great in order to be nourishing and healing.
For more information, please visit Rebecca’s website at: http://rebeccakatz.com
