There are an endless amount of soups, stews, and chowders that I enjoy making during the frosty winter months. A nourishing family favorite is warm carrot soup. Carrots are in season year round, which makes them a practical vegetable during the winter months. Carrot soup is the perfect way to prepare this versatile vegetable. With plenty of carrots, corn, and sweet potatoes, this rich soup is wholesome and filling on a cold day.
Whenever I prepare this soup for my family, my children often ask me to tell them the amusing story of the time Grandma turned me orange. As the story goes, I had a voracious, insatiable appetite for pureed carrots as a baby. To my mother’s amusement, I would attack my carrots with such gleeful abandon, she couldn’t help but laugh when she fed me. Naturally, those beloved carrots were fed to me every single day.
On one of those carrot binging days, my mother noticed something peculiar about me. She thought she noticed an orange tinge to my skin. She promptly placed me next to my sister and concluded that my skin was unquestionably orange. As a nurse, her initial thoughts turned to a case of jaundice. She took me to the pediatrician and to her surprise, he told her it was in my zeal for carrots that had turned me orange. He instructed her to break me of my carrot gorging habit.
Every single time I tell the story, my kids don’t believe me. “It’s true!” I exclaim, and they shake their heads and question how much carrot soup they will need to eat to turn orange. Apparently for them, turning orange would be an amazing way to spend their day.
The truth is there is an actual medical term for turning orange – carotenemia. Carrots contain high amounts of beta-carotene. When too much beta-carotene is consumed, the excess enters the bloodstream. After entering the bloodstream, it is deposited in the skin. Thus, orange tinged skin!
I can guarantee that this carrot packed soup will not turn you orange, but it will warm your family up on a blustery day. We love to serve it with a robust sprinkle of parmesan and parsley on top. The salty parmesan compliments the sweetness of the carrots to perfectly balance the flavors.
Hearty and Wholesome Carrot Soup
Ingredients:
- 1 large sweet potato, baked
- 1 cup Vidalia onion, diced (about 1 small onion)
- 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 32 oz vegetable broth, organic
- 16 oz bag baby carrots, roughly chopped
- 2 cups corn kernels
- ½ teaspoon white pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- Fresh Parmesan, for garnish
- Fresh Parsley, for garnish
Directions:
Step 1: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Wrap sweet potato in tinfoil and bake in the oven, for 1 hour.
Step 2: In a large saucepan, sauté onion until translucent. Add garlic; sauté until fragrant.
Step 3: Add vegetable broth, carrots, corn, and spices. Simmer on med-high heat for approximately 20 minutes, or until carrots are tender.
Step 4: Using a slotted spoon, remove half of the solids and blend in a food processor, or blender. (Note: If you dislike chunky soup, just blend all of the solids.) Add blended solids back into saucepan; stir to incorporate.
Step 5: Remove outer skin from sweet potato and add to saucepan; stir to incorporate.
Step 6: Ladle hot soup into bowls. Garnish with shaved parmesan and freshly chopped parsley!
