I started my holidays a little earlier than anticipated since we decided to finally take on our pending bathroom remodeling project and I’m relieved that it’s finished. No more drilling and hammering noises and pesky dust issues! Since, I’ve stayed at home for the bathroom project, I decided to finish up wrapping all the gifts that we need to take down with us on our trip this weekend. Honestly, I am not a big fan of wrapping gifts, sometimes I get them right and on other occasions, I simply don’t. It would be much easier if there was a standard rectangular shape box for every gift versus all the other random shaped toy cartons that I have come across.
With all the hustle and bustle of the calorie loaded holidays parties, I’ve been opting for very simple, easy, and refreshing meals at home. This is one of my favorite recipes that I have grown to love and appreciate this year. This apple and carrot soup has all the fresh flavors of the season. The soup by itself is very delicious but it gets a pretty bold kick of heat from the Thai chili peppers in the crunchy peanut and cilantro chutney.
To give this pureed soup a silky and smooth texture, it is essential to simmer all the vegetables for at least 30 minutes. It does not matter how long you small you dice the apples and carrots because they will get soft and tender during the simmering stage. If you can’t find black sea salt or “Kala Namak” (you can find it at most Indian grocery stores) then I would recommend using regular Kosher sea salt. You can thin the soup as much as you want to with water but don’t forget to adjust the salt and pepper. While making the chutney, I like to use fresh lemon juice and I also leave the seeds inside the chilies. If you like the chutney less hot, then remove the seeds and only use the skin of the chilies. A little drop of the chutney goes along way in this soup. Another tip with the peanuts, I eliminated the need for using raw peanuts, since pre-salted and roasted peanuts are so easily available. The little crunch bits of peanuts in the chutney against the smooth silky soup makes for a wonderful and delicious texture. As an added bonus, the chutney can also be used as a dipping sauce.
apple and carrot soup with cilantro-peanut chutney
yields: 4-6 servings
ingredients
for the apple and carrot soup
2 medium sized Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and diced
2 lb carrots, peeled and diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups water
1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder
juice of half a lemon
ground black sea salt (or regular sea salt) to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
for the cilantro-peanut chutney
1 cup of fresh cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons salted roasted peanuts
2 green thai chili peppers
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
juice of one lemon
salt and pepper to taste
for the apple and carrot soup
1. Heat the olive oil in a thick bottomed stock pot with a lid on a medium flame. When the oil is hot, add the onions and garlic and sauté for 2 minutes with constant stirring. The onions will become translucent and light pink in color. Now add the carrots and apples, stir for a minute and cover with a lid. Cook for another 2 minutes. Add 1 cup of water and bring it to boil. Once the water boils, reduce the flame to a gentle simmer and cook for another 30 minutes until all the vegetables are soft. Switch the flame off and let the contents cool for about 15 minutes.
2. Add the contents of the stockpot to a food processor and pulse until completely smooth. Add the pureed vegetables back to the stockpot. Add the rest of the water to the puree along with the cayenne pepper and lemon juice. Season the soup with salt and pepper. Heat the soup on a medium flame and bring to a boil with constant stirring. Then reduce to a gentle simmer and keep warm until ready to serve.
Note: If you prefer the soup to be thinner, then add a little more water to it and accordingly adjust the salt and pepper.
for the cilantro-peanut chutney
1. Grind all the ingredients for the chutney to get a coarse paste. The peanuts should be coarsely ground.
2. Season with salt and pepper as per taste.
serving suggestion:
Top each bowl of soup with 1 teaspoon of the cilantro-peanut chutney.
12 Responses
Oh my, this looks SO delicious! I've been eating vegetarian more + more these days, so this looks perfect to me. YUM! And Happy Holidays!
I love the bit of heat in the soup and the peanuts. I also have a love/hate relationship with wrapping presents and think boxes are the way to go. You can spend a lot of time making a present look beautiful and then it is all ripped off in a second. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
i totally agree with square size gifts, it will be so much easier & quicker too. The soup looks so delicious and healthy which is much needed, given the amount of sugar and fats that i have been consuming lately. I hope you have a great holidays 🙂
Great photography, I especially like the raw carrot and vegetable in the copper pot with the stark contrast in lighting. The soup reads like a winner as well.
What a simply delightful soup!
Hope you had a wonderful holiday and wishing you a Happy New Year!
Thanks Amy, wish you the same
Ha,ha, I agree with you completely!
Wish you the same and thank you so much!
Thank you so much! Wish you the same.
Thank you for stopping by!
I made this for dinner last night, really delicious – loved the chutney on top! 🙂
I made this for dinner last night, really delicious – loved the chutney on top 🙂