Creamy carrot soup

This soup is as good cold as it is hot, and its creaminess comes from vegetables, not dairy items, though you can certainly enrich this soup by stirring in a part of butter or a splash of cream or coconut milk after pureeing.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion chopped

About 1 and a half pounds of carrots, roughly chopped

salt and freshly ground black pepper

6 cups vegetable stock or water

1/4 cup chopped parsley leaves for garnish

step by step

1. Put the oil in a large, deep saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. When oil is hot, add the vegetables. sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occassionally, for about 15 minutes, until the carrots soften a bit. Add the stock and cook until the vegetables are very tender, 15 to 20 minutes.

2. Use a blender to puree the soup in the pan. Or cool the mixture slightly (hot soup is dangerous!) and put into a blender. Puree until smooth, working in batches if necessary. (You can make the soup ahead to this point. Cover, refrigerate for up to 2 days, and reheat before proceeding.)

3. If you are serving the soup hot, gently reheat it, stirring frequently. If you are serving it cold, refrigerate, covered, for at least 2 hours. Either way, taste and adjust seasoning and garnish just before serving.

Enjoy!