A Healthy and Wholesome soup…

After the not so healthy but awesome chicken wings last night, we needed something a little lighter for our dinner tonight. Our stomachs were definitely ready for a hearty and healthy soup. So this is what I came up with. A carrot soup with some fresh coriander and parsley. I am not a very big fan of large chunks of vegetables in my soup. I love my creamy soups. Since I wanted to use only vegetables in the soup and also make it creamy, I decided to use potatoes. This recipe serves 4 persons.

Ingredients:

1. 4 medium carrots, cut into chunks
2. 2 medium potatoes, cut into chunks
3. 1/2 onion, chopped
4. 1 tomato, chopped
5. 2 garlic cloves, sliced
6. 1 bay leaf
7. 2 cups vegetable / chicken stock
8. 1/2 cup freshly chopped parsley
9. 1/2 freshly chopped coriander
10. 1/2 tbsp olive oil
11. Salt to taste
12. 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper (to taste)

Directions:

• Heat the olive oil in a saucepan.
• Fry the bay leaf till it turns a light brown.
• Add the garlic and onion and fry till it softens.
• Add the chopped tomatoes and cook 3-5 minutes.
• Add 3 cups of water and the chopped carrots and potato into the saucepan.
• Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are almost tender.
• Add the parsley, coriander and the chicken / vegetable stock and simmer till the vegetables are cooked completely.
• Discard the bay leaf and puree the soup in a blender.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Serve with some sour cream, cream and croutons.

This recipe takes about 45 minutes from start to finish. I heat the soup just before serving as I cool it a little before pureeing it. I usually serve the soup with salad. Next time I am going to try making some bread-sticks to go with the soup and salad. Hope you enjoy this soup.