Carrot and Ginger Soup

This recipe also comes from Ginny. Again, it happily incorporates the heat and savoury flavour of ginger. For those of you who have not used fresh ginger before, you can buy it in the 'produce' section of your grocery store. It is a tuberous root (that's why you will see it called gingerroot) with a skin that needs to be pared off with a sharp knife before use.

Ingredients:

- 6 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 large onion, chopped
- ¼ cup gingerroot minced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 7 cups chicken stock (vegetable stock)
- 1 cup white wine
- 1 and ½ pounds carrots, peeled and cut into ½” pieces
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- pinch curry powder
- salt, to taste
- freshly ground pepper, to taste

Garnish: fresh chives or fresh parsley

Serves 6

Melt the butter in large stock pot over medium heat. Add the onion, ginger and garlic and sauté until the onions are translucent (not browned), about 5-10 minutes. Add the stock, wine and carrots and heat to boiling. Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered until the carrots are very tender, about 45 minutes. Puree the soup with a hand-held whizzer or in a blender or food processor. Season with fresh lemon juice, curry powder, salt and pepper. Sprinkle with chives or parsley. You can serve this soup hot in the winter or chilled, as a summer soup.

Editorial Note: I made 2 different kinds of vegetable soup this morning, each with the addition of fresh lemon juice at the finish. The lemon juice improves the flavour of both (already delicious) soups.