Carrot Soup

I tried making a carrot soup for the first time tonight. It was delicious - flavorful and creamy and healthy.

The recipe came from my Vegetarian Times cookbook and is called "Carrot Soup with Cilantro". But I left out the cilantro and instead added a little ginger. Other than that, I stayed pretty faithful to the recipe and it came out great. Here it is with my changes:

What you'll need:
- 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 apple - peeled, cored and diced
- 1 pound carrots - peeled and sliced
- 1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed
- 2 Tablespoons basmati or other long-grain rice
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp minced fresh ginger
- 5 cups veggie stock
- 1 bay leaf
- salt and pepper

What to do:
- Melt the butter in a large pot. Add the fennel seeds and cook them for a minute or two.
- Add the apple, carrots, and sweet potato and cook for 5 minutes, stirring.
- Add rice, turmeric, ginger, veggie stock, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer until the rice and veggies are tender, about 25 minutes.
- Remove the bay leaf.
- Let cool for a few minutes. Transfer batches of the soup to a blender and puree, then transfer back or put in separate bowl until all of the soup is pureed.
- Bring back to a simmer and add salt and pepper to taste before serving.
(I don't suppose adding some cilantro or parsley on top would hurt.)

We ate this with bread dipped in and some meat on the side. Yum!