Carrot and carrot soup

Hello, friends! Miss me?

Haven't posted in a few days, due to a few different reasons: had a cold, was taking care of Frances who was recovering from another bout of vertigo, and was generally feeling crabby, all of which contributed to not cooking much and therefore having nothing to post about. But by yesterday, my cold was mostly gone, Frances was on the mend, and while I was still a little crabby, I was starting to get my cooking mojo back.

I was in the mood to cook but not in the mood to go to the store. A quick inventory of our refrigerator revealed slim pickings, but I had the few ingredients I needed to make carrot soup, which was exactly what I was craving: something bright, pretty, healthy, and quick.

Have you noticed that lots of carrot soups are called carrot and something soup? Carrot and orange. Carrot and curry. Carrot and ginger. Carrot and parsnip.

While there are a few other ingredients in this soup, such as leeks and potato, carrots are the main event. Have we discussed my love of carrots yet? No? Let's do it now. I love carrots raw, roasted, sauteed, stir-fried, pureed into soup, baked into cake, shredded in salad, fried into tempura. I even came across a mention today of a carrot loaf, which, if you can believe it, made my mouth water a little bit. My carrot love is no joke.

So last night I decided to let the carrots shine. I used the same old method I always use, but this time I left out the cream and sprinkled the top with chives. While I was finishing up the soup, the husband made a turkey sandwich on toasted herb bread, cut it in half, and put one half on each of our plates.

My carrot and carrot soup was mild and creamy, with a savory background from the leeks, and depth from homemade chicken stock. A soup and sandwich dinner is a bit unusual for us, but I must say it hit the spot. While I'm not quite back to my usual cooking self, this lovely orange soup was a step in the right direction.