Carrot Ginger Soup From The Sublime Cookbook
A review copy of Sublime's new all-vegan cookbook landed on our desk recently, and we thought we'd give a recipe or two a run-through in our kitchen.
Among the 60+ recipes are a few unnecessary one (how to blanch spinach? seriously?), a few cringe-worthy ones, at least for this omnivore who shudders at the thought of soy "cheese," and a few real gems, particularly in the soups, salads and sushi sections. Take this carrot ginger soup. We chose this recipe because of its lack of fake meat or cheese, its intriguing spice combination and the fact that it seemed pretty easy to make. Turns out that it's really tasty. And healthful too, if a little high in the calorie and fat department, thanks to the creamy coconut milk.
Check out the recipes for Carrot Ginger Soup and Blond Vegetable Stock, along with a few of our notes, after the jump. The cookbook is available through Sublime's website (or at the restaurant itself) and Amazon.
Carrot Ginger Soup
Keep in mind that this recipe makes a lot of soup. We halved the recipe and now have enough for the rest of the week in the fridge and an extra container of soup in the freezer. We went with regular coconut milk, but if you're counting calories, light coconut milk would probably work just as well.
4 tbsp canola oil
1/2 c peeled and sliced fresh ginger
5 lbs carrots, peeled and sliced
1 c sliced shallots
1 tbsp whole fenugreek seeds
1 tbsp whole fennel seeds
3 c Blond Vegetable Stock (see recipe below)
3 c coconut milk
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp thinly sliced chives
Heat the oil in a large soup pot. Add the ginger and cook and stir for 2 minutes. Add the carrots and the shallots and cook and stir for 5 to 10 minutes, until the carrots are almost tender. Add the fenugreek and fennel seeds and cook and stir for 2 minutes, until they are toasted.
Add the vegetable stock, cover, and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the carrots are very soft and dark orange. Remove from the heat and stir in the coconut milk. Process the soup in batches in a blender until it is smooth and creamy. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with the chives.
Blond Vegetable Stock
LOVE this stock. The white peppercorns really give it a distinctive taste. We think it'd make a great base for lots of different soups.
1 lb chopped white onions
1 c chopped carrot
1 c chopped celery
6 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp whole white peppercorns
8 qts cold water
Combine the onions, carrot, celery, parsley, bay leaves and peppercorns in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cover with the water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 1 hour.
Remove the stock from the heat and strain it. Let cool to room temperature. Stored in a sealed container, Blond Vegetable Stock will keep for up to 4 days in the refrigerator or 4 months in the freezer.
Both recipes reprinted with permission from The Sublime Restaurant Cookbook, Book Publishing Company, 2009.
