Spiced carrot soup with mint and dill-herbed yogurt

By Mary Luz Mejia

This vegetarian soup gets a delicious flavour boost from warming dry roasted fennel and coriander seeds, both of which are known to be excellent digestive spices. The yogurt, mint and dill swirl at the end freshens the whole ensemble and leaves you happily sated.

Serves 4–6

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil
6 large carrots, sliced thin
1⁄2 onion, minced
1 tsp grated ginger
Pinch cayenne pepper
1⁄2 tsp fennel seeds
1⁄4 tsp coriander seeds
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
1⁄2 tsp sea salt
2 cups organic vegetable stock
1 cup water
1 strip of zest from an orange
1/3cup chopped mint
1 tbsp chopped dill
3⁄4cup Greek yogurt 

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in a stock pot on medium-high heat.

Add carrots, cayenne and onions and let sweat. Turn down heat to medium. You want these to get soft, not burned or heavily caramelized.

2.Add water, stock, garlic, ginger and orange zest. Once boiling, turn down heat to a simmer until carrots are tender. Once carrots are done, remove orange zest.

3.Use an immersion hand blender, a regular blender or a food processor to purée until smooth. At this point, add sea salt and stir.

4.In a small frying pan, dry roast your fennel and coriander seeds over medium-high heat. This won’t take long – so pay attention or you’ll burn them. Once they release their fragrance while toasting, use the back of a wooden spoon to crush the seeds to further release their oils. Remove from heat and add to soup in blender or food processor. Purée one final time.

5.Taste soup, adjusting seasoning if required (add more cayenne if you like more heat).

6.Before serving, combine yogurt, mint and dill. Stir until herbs are incorporated.

7.Ladle soup into a bowl, add a dollop of herbed yogurt, swirl and enjoy.

Nutrition Information

(per 428 g serving)

Calories…….151

Fat ………..6.7g

Saturated. . . . 2.4 g

Carbohydrates.17.4g

Fibre……..5.3g

Sugar …….9.3g

Cholesterol….0mg

Sodium …….451mg

Protein …….7.1g