This is super healthy soup that gives you all the fresh, warm fall flavors. The spicy carrot soup is easy on the ingredients and boast big flavors. Loaded with ginger and garlic, lime juice for punch, with some sesame seeds. It is tangy, nutty, very creamy and intensely flavored, Made with few ingredients and 30 minutes, this is an incredible easy and delicious meal any time of the year.
The endless cascade of nutritional information—about localism, vegetarianism, veganism, organic food, the environmental impact of eating meat, poultry, or fish, and more—makes the simple goal of a healthy, sustainable diet seem hopelessly complex.
In the past few years, the concept of “Local” food has really exploded. More and more people are coming to understand the importance of eating locally produced food and all of the amazing benefits that eating locally gives to the body and to the local economy.
Growing up in India, a person came door to door everyday to sell the freshest of produce. They still do. There’s farmer’s market every single day on roads. My parents like many Indian parents, walk to buy what they need for the day. They believe in buying fresh, eating fresh and eating what’s in season. There was no concept of local food, everything was local where I was born, Bangalore. Food tasted fresh, flavorful and you can tell a difference now.
Coming to America, those were not the norm. I always wondered how we could find vegetables and fruits all year around.
Then I didn’t know how it was done. They were expensive and not the tastiest. I shopped at grocery stores for years, before I realized, I had to go to a farmer’s market to get what was in season and to cut out the middleman who was making a huge cut.
Eating local or eating organic is expensive. No doubt.
I try to incorporate local foods into my diet as much as possible, partly because food that I buy locally is typically not processed and if it is, I can talk to the person who’s making it to make sure that it fits my family’s needs. It’s also really fun to visit local farms and markets and my kids enjoy it too. Another fun way to incorporate local foods into your diet is by going to restaurants that focus on sourcing their ingredients locally
I live with a family who are carnivores, and I am 98% vegetarian, but the biggest debate in my household is over whether to buy organic or conventional fruits and produce. Based on vague notions that organic is better for the environment and aversions to the idea of herbicide- and pesticide-coated food, I am willing to pay the higher price for organic. My hubby, isn’t.
Finding an abundance of organic options usually means shopping at a higher-end grocery store or a farmers’ market, or buying a CSA share from a farm that uses regenerative organic practices. As for the higher prices of organic, that’s what you pay for health.
” Sustainability, it seems, is a little like religion: we’re all striving for an ideal, but it’s difficult, if not impossible, to achieve perfection. We sin a little here. We sin a little there. Still, a few simple adjustments help a lot.”
Stop worrying so much about not getting enough protein, enough vitamins. Buy organic food whenever you can. Source your food as locally as possible, and eat seasonally to avoid racking up major food miles. Be open-minded and creative about new cuisines. Relax. Have fun. Sustainable eating isn’t synonymous with masochism.
“We think of everything related to the environment as something we are doing wrong or have to give up,” Dan Barber says. “But people can do something about it in a way that is pleasurable. We can actualize change through hedonism.”
Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago. Warren Buffett
So, let’s try to leave a good carbon print.
Curried Spicy Carrot Soup with Sesame and Walnut Crumble
This carrot soup has all the good stuff. Potatoes, curry powder and coconut milk makes it creamy with a little heat. The walnut crumble is a must and acts like a crispy addition to the creamy carrot soup.
Things I’ve used:
Curry powder – Amazon Link
Black rice noodles – Link
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 small red onion, finely chopped
- 4 garlic, crushed
- 1 inch ginger, peeled and sliced
- 4 green thai chilies
- 3 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
- 1½ pounds (8-10 orange and white carrots, or whichever you have on hand. Peel and dice.
- 2 potatoes, diced to big chunks
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 vegetable stock
- ½ cup coconut milk
- Juice of 1 lime
- chili flakes, as much or little as you need.
- Cooked Black rice noodles or any noodles of your choice
- Chopped cilantro
- Walnut crumble or salted toasted peanuts chopped
- chili oil
- Heat up a large soup pot. Add oil. Once the oil gets hot, add the cumin seeds, pepper and let it pop for 10 seconds. Add the red onion, garlic, ginger, chilies and saute for a minute or until the onions are slightly golden brown. Add the toasted sesame seeds, carrots, potatoes, curry powder and salt. Saute it for 2-3 minutes. Add the vegetable stock and let it boil. Turn the heat down to a medium and cook for about 10-15 minutes or until all the veggies are full cooked.
- Using a handblender, blend the soup to a smooth consistency. I like my soups with a little bit of texture, so I don't strain it. If you want a smooth texture, go ahead and strain with a colander.
- Add coconut milk. Check for seasoning. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add some chili flakes and lime juice at this point. Turn off the heat.
- Serve hot with some noodles, chili oil, cilantro and walnut crumbles or peanuts.
If you make this Curried Carrot Soup, do tag me on social media at #foodfashionparty. I’d love to see it.
Check out my book MASALA AND MEATBALLS on Amazon.
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I am too willing to pay a bit extra for quality organic food…but when some are just ridiculously expensive, I go to conventional. The soup looks seriously delicious and comforting with that crumble topping.