Carrot ginger and roasted leek soup

Life has been crazy recently.. well, more specifically, work has been crazy recently. If it felt like I have abandoned you all, that was because of the crazy work schedules for the past few weeks. I have even started batch cooking and freezing on Sundays. Always a sign of crazy times ahead. I don't know though, I have still quite not gotten used to the idea of eating defrosted food. I freeze ~4 different portion size dishes for two on Sundays and defrost a new dish everyday morning before leaving for work. The plan goes well for may be till Thursday; somehow by Thursday I always start feeling that I am eating stale food. May be its just a mental block; it is still freshly defrosted food, right! Do you eat frozen foods much? Do you feel the same way? What do you do to liven up defrosted food?

Anyway, so coming back to the point, last Thursday my mental block came back in full-swing and we finally decided to dinner out to this nearby salad & soup place where I had this absolutely awesome carrot, ginger and roasted leek soup. I ate bowls and bowls of it with their house bread and immediately tick-marked it to try at home for the weekend. So this is my take on this soup. It has a hearty sweet component from carrots and sugar; roasting brings out a wonderful slightly sweet smoky flavor of the leeks and the carrots; and ginger-cinnamon just give your throat that much needed warmth with every sip of this soup. Perfect soup for a tired evening! Well, if it would freeze well that is ;) Enjoy, and assuming things do not get over-powering again, I promise to be around more often now. Happy Sunday.

Recipe: Serves 4
Ingredients:
4 fresh carrots
1 large leek (can substitute with a red onion if leek is unavailable)
3 unpeeled cloves of garlic
1in piece of ginger
1tsp sugar
1tsp red wine vinegar (balsamic might be better - but i was out of it)
zest of 1 lemon
juice of half a lemon
pinch of crushed red chili flakes
just a dash of cinnamon (optional)
salt & pepper

Recipe:
Pre-heat oven to 450F.

Roughly chop the carrots and leek into finger-length pieces. Run the leek pieces through running water to clean all the dirt that gets trapped inside the leaves. Line a baking sheet with an aluminium foil (super easy to clean up later!). Add the carrot, leek pieces and unpeeled garlic cloves. Add some extra virgin olive oil, salt & pepper. Mix well.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Remove from oven. Peel the roasted garlic cloves. Mince the ginger root to get about 1Tbsp minced ginger. Add all the vegetables and 6C water with enough salt. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to barely simmer. Simmer covered for 30minutes.

Remove from heat. Let cool a bit. Then using an immersion blender or a regular blender, blend the soup into batches (be careful to cool the soup before blending and do not overload blender). Bring the blended soup back to the soup pot. Add cinnamon, chili flakes, sugar, pepper, vinegar, lemon juice and zest and stir well.

Taste! Adjust the salt-sweet-heat-sour components per taste. Serve fresh with some chopped herbs (mint/cilantro/parsley) with a dollop of  yogurt if you like or an additional drizzle of olive oil. Serve with a nice toasted whole wheat bread or any crusty toasted bread which will soak up the soup well.

Comments

Rahin said…
roasted vegetables are good in any dish, they just are a big bang of flavors, love it , soup looks delicious
TREAT AND TRICK said…
This is truly delicious and healthy soup, love the way you've prepared it, great snap too...
sayantani said…
Thats a super quck recipe PJ. love any kind of dish made with roasted veggies. this one remains in my to do list. looks fantastic.
Amruta said…
Hey PJ, I have been reading your blog for a while now and you have such diverse recipes. The soup looks so good. I am sure it tasted as good as it looks.
Shriya said…
Interesting recipe and I love the celery and carrot combo. Totally healthy and refreshing soup.
PJ said…
Rahin, yes, i like roasted vegetable soups too.. they do add a nice sweet smoky flavor.

Treat and trick, thanks, it is not the quickest of the soups but well worth the time.

Sayantani, me too. thanks, let me know how you like it.

Amruta, welcome to my blog! Thanks, I am so glad you liked the soup. Roasted vegetable soups are one of my favorite soups to prepare.

Shriya, thanks, carrot does make everything look good, doesn't it :)
Suji said…
Love any soups..This is an interesting combo...PJ looks too good..

Love
Kairali sisters
Hari Chandana P said…
Lovely recipe.. sounds interesting.. nice click too..
Khaugiri said…
Perfect soup for rainy days:)
PJ said…
Kairali sisters, thanks, you sound like me then. i love soups anyday anytime too.

Hari, thanks, so glad you liked it.

Khaugiri, yes, this would be a good soup for a rainy day mainly due to all the cinnamon and pepper.
Kanchan said…
I agree with you.. even I've got this mental block of staleness when a thing goes on for around a week ...thought I know defrosting is fine.

I loved your soup ..with the roasting it must have given a wonderful taste.
Pari Vasisht said…
I love the smoky flavor so I know for sure that I will love the soup. I can empathise with your state of mind, hectic schedules can be killing, gladly I am out of it right now so for once in a while I keep some ready to eat.
Priya Suresh said…
Droolworthy and healthy soup, lovely!!
whole of last winter carrot and leek soup was a common dish at our table..im in love with leek btw:)
but roasting it in the oven seems 2 be a good idea..im sure it enhances the taste a whole better
lovely clicks. tempting recipe dear.
Hamaree Rasoi said…
Roasting sounds a good idea....I'm sure it must have tasted as good as it looks. Lovely picture

Deepa
Hamaree Rasoi
indosungod said…
Lovely color. Even to non-carrot fans this looks attractive.

PJ, frozen foods do that no matter what for people who are used to eating freshly cooked at least most of the time. For you it is Thursday, for me the feeling hit on Wednesday. Sorry I am not much help. I never found a good way to deal with it.
Padhu Sankar said…
Second picture looks so lovely,Thanks for the quick recipe
PranisKitchen said…
pj thats a very delicious and healthy soup.like the addition of leek.. good one
Nithya said…
Soup looks fantastic and I love the first click :)
Those roasted veggies look gr8..lovely flavors in the soup..yummy
Savi-Ruchi said…
even I cannot stand frozen food. I am lucky that I always escaped from frozen ones ;) Soup looks warm & super delicious, will try it soon. Thanks for sharing
Sushma Mallya said…
I love the flavour of leeks,i usually use it for stir fries, but using it in soup is also a great idea, really a nice combo....
Preeti Kashyap said…
Leeks, garlic and carrots did u say? I can't wait until I smell this soup in my kitchen!
shahana said…
I never tried roasting leek in soup.Loved the combination of leek n carrots.Will try this soon.
Panchpakwan said…
Looks so yuumy and healhty soup all the roasted veggies..
Sanjeeta kk said…
Very healthy and comforting soup.
sangeeta said…
For a change even i had an experience of freezing food for the week and eating that later ..... i was away n cooked a lot of food n froze it in portion sizes for my husband ........ it came handy even when i came back as i was dead tired....but i dint have any complaints...:)

I'd love this soup not just for it's wonderful flavors but also cuz it is not creamy buttery type .....i am thinking of garlic bread with it.
Joanne said…
I've frozen something once before. And then it sat in the freezer for months and then I threw it out. I love eating leftovers, but once something goes in the freezer, I want nothing to do with it.

I love this soup! Carrots and leeks...interesting and tasty combo!
Latha said…
Lovely color and yummy soup.