Saturday, January 19, 2008

Carrot Ginger Soup with Cashew Cream

This is another recipe from Rebecca Katz, author, One Bite at a Time, (Celestial Arts, 2004)

I made it exactly as she wrote it out except that I used a hand blender and did the blending right in the pot instead of transferring to a blender. It was so yummy. We are big carrot eaters in our house so I was pretty sure it would be a hit with all of us and it was.



Carrot Ginger Soup with Cashew Cream

Yields 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients

3 pounds carrots (about 16) wash, cut in 1 inch pieces
2 to 2 ½ quarts cold water
1 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chopped yellow onions
2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger
½ teaspoon curry powder
¼ teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon coriander
1 small pinch of red chili pepper flakes
1/8 teaspoon maple syrup

Cashew Cream Ingredients

1 cup raw cashews
1 cup water
1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice
½ teaspoon sea salt
Pinch of nutmeg

Soup Procedure

In a 6 to 8 quart pot add carrots and water. Cover and bring to boil over medium high heat, add 1 teaspoon of salt, decrease heat to medium low. Cook until carrots are very tender, about 20 minutes. Drain, reserve cooking liquid and carrots in two bowls.

In the same pot heat olive oil over medium heat, add onions with a pinch of salt, sauté until they are golden. Add in ginger, curry, cumin, cinnamon, allspice, coriander, and red chili pepper flakes, stir to combine. Deglaze the pan with one cup of carrot cooking liquid. Return carrots to pan, mix well to coat with onions and spices.

In a blender, puree mixture in batches adding cooking liquid first and then the carrots, blend until very smooth. Remember not to fill the blender more than 2/3 full! Add additional liquid to reach desired thickness. Return to pot, add maple syrup, and reheat slowly.

Think FASS and taste. Does it need a squeeze of lemon or a pinch or two of salt or a drizzle of maple syrup to round out the flavor?

Cashew Cream

Grind cashews in a mini food processor or nut grinder first. Some blenders are not powerful enough to turn nuts into cream so we give it a head start. If you have a Vita-mix skip this step.

Put water in the blender; add ground cashews, lemon juice, salt and nutmeg. Blend until very very smooth, about 3 minutes. Drizzle a teaspoon of cashew cream on top of each bowl before serving.

Copy write Rebecca Katz, 2004.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've seen cashew cream listed in several vegan recipes, but ... what does it TASTE like? What is the consistency like?

Have you seen The Gluten-Free Vegan? It's a fairly new cookbook; I bought it last week. I'm excited about the casein-free, gluten-free baked goods recipes in it.

Kathi said...

This was my first time making cashew cream. I think the taste varies by recipe - google cashew cream recipe and you will find some very different recipes - all have raw cashews and water in common - but some have sweeteners or sweet juice instead of the lemon juice. Mine had the consistency of cream and looked like cream. It was a little sour and lemony which contrasted wonderfully with the carrots. It was so yum and the cream made it look yum as well.

I hadn't hear of the Gluten-Free Vegan yet. I will have to check that out - have you tried any of the recipes in it?

Anonymous said...

Thank you for posting the recipe, it looks just fabulous! I'm looking forward to trying it very soon. We've made a version of cashew cream from a similar recipe and also found that it went nicely with soup. You have inspired me to try it again. My mate can't do citrus anymore, but we might try it with pineapple juice or vinegar or a combination of both.

Anonymous said...

Great, I'll have to try the cashew cream next week! Thanks for answering.

I tried two GF Vegan recipes tonight, and they were both tasty--but I haven't tried the baked goods recipes yet.

Sheltie Girl said...

Kathi - This looks wonderful! Thanks for sharing.

Sheltie Girl @ Gltuen A Go Go