Recipe | Autumnal Carrot & Ginger Soup

I've been fairly lazy of late and have been avoiding doing a big food shop like the plague. 

This recipe is perfect for those of you that can echo this, its made completely out of cupboard ingredients (and a couple of easy to get hold of vegetables) and perfect for the chilly Autumn Days!

This is my favourite soup to make at the moment, for some reason when I try bog standard vegetable soup it never turns out quite right. 

It is my go-to recipe when I need something quick and delicious with minimal washing up. It turns out perfectly every time and works for lunch and dinner!

Picture: Tracy Benjamin//Flickr

The recipe will serve four very lucky people, or one lucky person four times!

Ingredients

2 tsp cumin seeds

Pinch of chilli flakes
A dash of Olive Oil

1 large Onion, diced

2 cloved of garlic, crushed and diced
1 tsp of finely grated fresh ginger

600g carrots, peeled and grated

140g split red lentils
1 litre of hot stock (vegetable or chicken will work)

125ml milk

To Serve

Natural Yoghurt

Chopped fresh chives

Chopped red chilli

In a larger saucepan dry fry the cumin and chilli flakes until they start jumping around the pan - scoop out half of the seeds and keep them aside for later. Add the olive oil and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until soft. 

Next, add the garlic, ginger and cumin. Cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes or until aromatic.

Add the carrot, lentils and stock. Increase the heat to high and bring to the boil. Cover the pan and reduce heat to low. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until the lentils are swollen and soft.

Blend the soup until smooth and place the soup over low heat and stir until heated through. Season with pepper.

Ladle the soup among serving bowls. Top with yoghurt(I like to add a hint of lime juice for extra zest), chilli and chives to serve. 

Swap your crusty bread for warm naan bread, for some reason with this soup it works so much better!