Creamy Carrot Soup

I stood staring into the open refrigerator, cooling the kitchen and warming the food. You know, the way you were always told NOT to growing up.

The problem wasn’t the contents of the food in the fridge. From fresh produce to farm fresh eggs, organic yogurt, even some leftover black bean burgers, the fridge overflowed. I’m blessed at our food bounty! And ashamed at my appetite’s ambiguity sometimes.

So, I stood there staring blank into the bounteous refrigerator.

Another night rushing home, blood sugar at the bottom of the barrel and no time to concoct something creative. The problem, Friends, lies in my evening exhaustion. It’s usually than that my tiredness overtakes me and vulnerability sets in. Either that or my mentality turns into that of a toddler!

It’s in that evening exhaustion when the sometimes still surreal quietness of our family starts. I don’t mean actual sound silence. I mean the missing noise, the absent source of energy, the lacking of his love for our family. Without Kevin, Daddy, it’s still too quiet.

You see, Kevin was my enthusiastic eating partner! Cooking for him added an element of fun to the nightly routine. He LOVED food and I LOVED watching him eat mine! So, now when evening’s upon me and my day’s energy approaches an end, dinner makes me miss him. From the meal making (accompanied by kitchen cuddles!) to his obvious savoring of each morsel.

Don’t get me wrong, his distaste for certain flavors were as evident as his enjoyment of others. But, his self-professed expert food critiques kept me motivated!

So, sometimes I just stare into a refrigerator filled with good food remembering the good times started in that very space, gathering ingredients.

It’s gotten better, of course. The girls and I sit together to eat dinner almost every evening, a family practice that took a long time for me to reinstate. With more freedom to explore new ingredients I’ve experimented with recipes I never would have before. In discovering exciting new ways to tickle my own taste buds, I actually enjoy what I eat more now. Good things, right?

I just really miss the evening meal process, the ritual it was.

Still standing there reminiscing, I noticed a beautiful bag of tri-colored carrots stared back at me. Sounds silly but I was really in need of a solution this particular night! Soup. Carrot soup! Not something Kevin would have necessarily wanted. But still, he was on my mind hard and heavy so in memory of him, I dug around finding all I could to create a cancer-fighting, body cleansing carrot soup!

Determined to enjoy the creating of my carrot concoction, I invited the girls into the kitchen. Kids in the kitchen slows the process and produces more mess. But, I’ve never regretted the time I spend with them there. It ends an evening on a high note knowing we’ve really acted as a family.

The results of my creamy carrot soup? Warm, delicious and wonderfully comforting.

So, no this soup did not solve my every subsequent evening’s touch of angst. But, it certainly offered a fun family moment as the girls and I worked together like a loving little team. Just what Kevin would have wanted, to watch his girls working together. Although not in person, his presence was there. I smile thinking of how he’d love that scene!

Sometimes it’s the simple things like staring into the fridge that points out our pain. But then it’s in those moments when simple things like a little creativity and family love solves the problem and soothes our souls.

Enjoy this recipe. And do me a favor. Send out a little love in Kevin’s memory while you create it!

Caring with carrots! Containing vitamin A, beta carotene, alpha carotene, fiber, cancer fighting compounds and more, carrots, and of course this carroty orange creation, truly care for your body. Not to mention its creamy comforting texture perfected with protein packed chick peas and some whole grain, homemade croutons. Mmm!

Ingredients

2 pounds tri-colored carrots (just orange is fine, too) cleaned, peeled and chopped
4 cloves of garlic peeled and minced
½ large yellow onion, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
2 tablespoons olive oil, organic butter or ghee
½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
4 cups vegetable broth (I used low sodium since I add salt to taste)
¾ cup unsweetened almond milk
1 ½ cup chickpeas or 1 15 ounce can drained and rinsed
½ - 1 teaspoon Celtic sea salt or pink Himalayan salt (to taste)
a few hefty shakes of nutmeg

Recipe Instructions

In a large stock pot/soup pan, sauté onion and garlic until slightly soft and opaque.
Add rosemary and thyme and sauté a few minutes more.
Add the chopped carrots and vegetable broth to the pan. Cook at a medium heat, simmering, until carrots are soft (they are soft enough when you can pierce them with a fork).
Add about half of the soup mixture, half of the chickpeas (¾ cup) and about half of the almond milk (⅓ cup) to a GOOD blender or food processor. Let it process or blend at a high speed for a few minutes until smooth or your desired consistency. Set aside in another bowl. Repeat with the other half of the soup mix from the pan, chickpeas and almond milk.
Add all the pureed soup back to the pan to stir together. Taste and add salt to your desired taste. You may even like to add a bit more pepper. Here’s where you’ll want to shake in that nutmeg too!
Serve piping hot! We liked topping it with whole grain croutons and a few extra chickpeas.

Recipe Notes

*You can buy whole grain or gluten free croutons depending on your nutritional preferences. I made my own. I didn't have time to dry bread in the oven so I made them in the toaster oven. I simply spread some organic pastured butter on two pieces of multi-grain, gluten-free bread then sprinkled it with garlic powder lightly. Then, I cut the bread into small squares, put them on the toaster oven tray and toasted them as normal. Turned out perfect!

*This makes a large batch for our family. So, other than sharing with a neighbor I like to swap recipes with, I divided the finished soup into smaller portions and froze for a later day.