Carrot Coconut Curry Soup

Life has been a whirlwind since my return from London. Work is busy. Home is busy. The dog is in desperate need of love. The same could be said for the husband, I suppose. All that said, I’ve barely had time to cook, and certainly have had no time to update this site. I do apologize for the interlude and hope to make it up to you in the coming weeks.

This past weekend was a mess of laundry, cleaning, dog-loving, husband-loving and cooking. Finally.

My Mom, the convenient vegetarian, visited and helped me clean out the fridge. To our shock, we discovered about six pounds of organic carrots from my CSA. I suppose we just kept piling them up week to week. Those poor carrots, huddled up in the lowest part of the fridge, waiting for some inspiration.

Together, we cleaned and sliced half of them for convenient work-day snacks, perfect with a little tub of garlic hummus. I should say, my Mom cleaned and sliced them. She’ll do anything after several glasses of red wine.

The other half was cleaned, chopped and dropped into a huge pot of the following: vegetable broth, organic sliced leeks, a couple cloves of garlic, salt, pepper and 4 teaspoons of Penang Coconut Curry, a lovely spice I stowed in my luggage on the way home from London. I brought everything to a boil and then let it simmer for a while, close to an hour.

[Insert several more glasses of red wine here.]

When the carrots were easily pierced with a knife, I pureed them in a blender, in batches. Once smooth, I tossed the emulsion back into the pot, along with a can of light coconut milk. Another 15 minutes on the stove, and the soup was ready for a late lunch.

As I mentioned, my Mom is the convenient vegetarian. When she hates the protein before her, she can eat only veggies. When it’s a thick, nicely-seared steak, she’s suddenly available for more than a few bites.

Thankfully, she was in vegetarian mode this weekend and devoured two helpings of the soup. I sent her home with several portions for the week and kept a few for myself. It was luscious, thick and truly flavorful. Next time you’re in Notting Hill, make sure to pick up some of that curry. There’s nothing like it.