Orange-Ginger Carrot Soup with Lemon Cashew Cream

After the rich holiday treats and meals, I'm ready for something healthy, but I need delicious too.  That's how I invented this citrus-ginger flavored carrot soup with lemon cashew cream.

Carrots are in season about 9 months a year in the Northwest and my favorite time for carrots is winter. Like Brussels sprouts, carrots get sweeter in cold weather.  The citrus tones from blood oranges and Meyer lemon in the cashew cream make this a dreamy treat.  I honestly never knew carrot soup could be so good.  

Get your carrots at the market if you want fresh carrots.

You see this sign when carrots are back at local markets in the spring.  New crop carrots are very sweet and tender.  Larger winter carrots are often sweet with more carrot flavor. 

In the end, we got local carrots.  My Cooking Assistant loves the size of these northwest winter carrots.

The lemon-cashew cream has possibilities beyond this soup.  It is simply amazing and would enhance desserts as well as hot whole grain cereal in the morning.  Though the recipe mentions organic blood oranges and lemons (because the recipes lists zest), I also prefer that all the other ingredients be organic as well, if possible.

Orange-Ginger Carrot Soup with Lemon Cashew Cream

(Serves 4)

1 medium onion, diced

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cloves garlic, pressed

2 stalks celery, sliced

1 pound carrots, washed and sliced

1 1/2  tablespoons freshly grated ginger root

4 cups water or vegetable stock

2 organic blood oranges, outer skin grated and juiced

1/2 cup cooked brown rice

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Sea salt to taste

Lemon cashew cream (see recipe below)

1. Sauté onion in olive oil, in a heavy skillet, until onions soften.  Add pressed garlic and celery.  Stir and cook for a few minutes.  Remove from heat.

2. Combine cooked vegetables, carrots, ginger and water in a soup pot.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until carrots become very tender.

3. Add orange juice, orange zest, brown rice and pepper flakes.  Blend in a blender, 2 cups at a time until smooth and creamy.  Add sea salt to taste.  Drizzle each serving with lemon cashew cream.

Lemon-Cashew Cream

(Makes about 1 1/2 cups)

3/4 cup raw cashews

3/4 cup apple cider

2 teaspoons organic Meyer lemon zest

1 tablespoon organic Meyer lemon juice

1. Soak cashews in apple cider for at least an hour. 

2. Blend cashews, apple cider, lemon juice and zest until smooth and creamy.