Moroccan Carrot Soup with Chive Cheese Croutons

Wow, I am glad to be back!  I have not been blogging lately because this past week the Giants won the World Series!  I have been working, watching baseball with my friends and Trevor, and celebrating the Giants victory.  The torture has ended.  Congratulations Giants!

I was chatting with my girlfriends and we were laughing about the unhealthiness that has bestowed itself on San Franciscans during the Series.  Work ethic was low, working out was slim to none, cooking at home was near impossible, and grocery shopping was out of the question.  Every San Franciscan's goal was to get home as quick as possible to cheer for the Giants!

Now I am on a mission to get back my healthy habits.  My favorite vegetable is carrots (my girlfriends will attest) so I thought I would start there.

This Carrot Soup recipe was surprisingly comforting and filling.  The fresh lemon juice was a perfect addition to the flavorful soup!  Be sure to eat this soup with the croutons, because they are yummy yummy yummy!  

I altered the recipe a bit.  Added crushed red pepper (obvi), garlic (obvi again), and used ground cumin instead of cumin seeds; who has cumin seeds just laying around anyways?  I made my own allspice (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and pepper).  Also, the recipe needed significantly more chicken broth.  Be sure to use the best chicken broth you can purchase (if you don't have time to make your own) because it really adds depth to the soup.

Go Giants!!!

Moroccan Carrot Soup

adapted from Bon Appetit, April 2010, by the Bon Appetit Test Kitchen

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter

1 Medium Yellow Onion Diced

1 Large Garlic Clove chopped

1 lb Large Carrots peeled and cut into 1/2" pieces

3 - 3 1/2 Cups Chicken Broth (Use really good chicken broth)

1 - 1 1/2 tsp Cumin

1/8 tsp Allspice

1 Tbsp Honey

1 Lemon

Salt 

Pepper

Crushed Red Pepper

Diced Chives

Plain Greek Yogurt

Directions:

Melt butter over medium heat in a soup pot.  Add onion, garlic, salt and pepper and saute for about 2 minutes.  Add carrot and saute for 5 minutes.  Add 2 1/2 cups of chicken broth and let simmer until carrot is soft, approximately 20 minutes.  Transfer to blender and process until smooth.  At this point you may need to add more chicken broth.  I ending up adding another cup to make the soup the consistency that I wanted.  Transfer back to the pot.  Add honey, allspice, a pinch of crushed red pepper, cumin, and juice from the lemon.  Stir and heat for a couple minutes.  Serve with croutons, chives and a dollop of greek yogurt.

Chive Cheese Croutons

Ingredients:

Good Crusty Bread sliced 1/2" thick on the Diagonal 

Olive Oil

Salt 

Pepper

Manchego Cheese Grated

Chopped Chives

Directions:

Preheat oven to Broil.  Brush both sides of break with olive oil.  Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides.  Place in broiler.  Toast one side and flip.  Add cheese and chives and broil until bread is toasty and cheese is melted.  Serve!