To Roast or Not to Roast: Curried Carrot Soup

 

 

This week's recipe is killing two birds with one stone, so to speak.  After receiving a gift card to a book store as a Christmas gift, I told myself that I am NOT allowed to buy a cookbook with it until I make more recipes from the ones I currently own plus I have always wanted to make a curried carrot soup but just surprisingly have never gotten around to it.

 

I found the exact recipe I wanted to try on page 133 of The Best of Clean Eating cookbook. (Editors Of Clean Eating Magazine. The Best of Clean Eating: Over 200 Mouthwatering Recipes to Keep You Lean and Healthy. Mississauga, Canada: Musclemag International / Robert Kennedy Pub, 2010. Print.)

 

Then began my thoughts....should I roast the carrots first or make the recipe as is without roasting the carrots first?  Guessing that the former would most likely taste better, I wanted to try to actually follow a recipe.  I compromised.  I decided to try both and do a comparison of the two.

 

Hands down, roasting the carrots first made a way better soup.  Don't get me wrong, just using raw carrots and using those in the soup was good if you are crunched for time. (Roasting carrots takes about 45 minutes at 400 degrees F, so some planning is needed for that.)   Had I not made the roasted carrot soup, I would have thoroughly enjoyed the original recipe.   

 

Basically, roasting the carrots added a sweetness to the soup that toned down the spiciness of the ginger, cumin, and curry powder.   The roasted carrot soup was thicker in texture and deeper in colour.  I was very surprised that roasting the carrots also took away the flavour of the coconut milk - maybe they were fighting to be the sweet taste?

 

I will be making this recipe again with roasting the carrots first.  Next time, I would probably use less ginger and try roasting the leeks and the garlic first as well.  As an added bonus,  I could see this recipe making an appearance in my Foods 9 program later this winter or next fall.  It is a great recipe to demonstrate that healthy eating isn't expensive, and to use one of my favorite expressions, ....nutritious can be delicious!

 

 

Can you spot the difference?

(the one on the right was made with roasted carrots)