LSL {Foodie Friday} - Carrot & Cilantro Soup

Today, I would like to give a warm welcome to the lovely Miss Kim to Look So Lovely.  Kim will be helping me with the food and cooking portion of the blog (since I love the idea of cooking, but usually find myself at the Whole Foods salad bar instead.)  I am thrilled to introduce her. Kim is a cross-country friend of mine (hailing from DC) and I am beyond happy that she was excited about contributing with her knowledge (and creative take) on the subject of cooking.  

So without further ado, Chef Kim!

We all reap the benefits of cooking, but how many of us actually make homemade meals on a regular basis? We created this space as a bit of inspiration to those of you who are either novices to cooking and want some guidance on where to begin with easy, but nonetheless delicious and impressive meals, or for you veterans who need more foodie ideas to add to your plethora of cookbooks. (If the latter is the case, then we encourage you to share your tasty treats with us!) I view a recipe as a starting point. Now that you have it, what are you going to do with it to make it work for you? With all due respect to the author of the recipe, I take great liberty in omitting and adding ingredients as my taste buds see fit. You should too. 

Here is one of my favorite recipes. I hope you enjoy it, and the process creating it. Bon appétit!

Roasted Carrot & Cilantro Soup {Adapted from: Guilty Kitchen}

Yield: Approximately 1 liter of soup

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

1 lb. carrots, peeled and uniformly sliced

1 tsp. veg oil (I prefer olive oil, but that's up to you)

Salt & pepper to taste
2 cloves of garlic

1/4 tsp. cumin

1 small onion, roughly chopped

1 Tbsp. veg oil

3 small potatoes (I left this ingredient out)

3 2/3 cups low sodium chicken broth (I made this from scratch, but store
bought is fine too...I'll share my recipe for that very soon!)

1/2 bunch cilantro (I use leaves and stems)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Toss sliced carrots in 1 tsp. veg oil, salt, pepper and cumin. Roast in the center of your oven for 30 minutes, turning once during cooking. Remove when slightly caramelized or blackened (don’t worry, they aren’t burned!). Set aside.

2. In heavy bottomed saucepan, sauté onion on medium heat in 1 tbsp of oil. Meanwhile, peel potatoes and cut into large chunks.

3. Once onions have turned slightly translucent, add potatoes and sauté for about 10 minutes.

4. Add the stock and crank up the heat. Once boiling, lower to a more manageable simmer. Keep simmering until the potatoes are almost done, then add the carrots that you roasted into the pot. Cook just enough to warm the carrots up, then remove from heat.

5. Pour soup into blender or food processor in batches (or use your immersion blender you kitchen gadget freak you). Add in your cilantro at this point as well. Blend it all up until it’s as smooth as you like.

6. Return soup to saucepan and reheat. Serve with crusty bread for dippin’ and maybe a swirl of sour cream or crème fraîche for you fancy people.

via my phone

What are your favorite recipes? Do you have meals that you make for parties? Or favorites that you prepare for Sunday dinners?  We would love to hear them and maybe open 'Foodie Friday' to other friends that would like to put on that chef's hat.

xo,

K