Wednesday, 31 August 2016

Carrot and Ginger Soup with Butter Beans

I made this soup for lunch. We have been away for 6 days so this was really a case of:

  1. What is going off in the fridge?
  2. How can I get more vegetables into the kids?
  3. How can I stop being so boring in the kitchen? Can I make something different?
I found a bag of shallots that my parents had left in the fridge, and half a bag of carrots that really needed to be used. Fresh, grated ginger gives this soup a zing that lifts it, and the shallots (ordinarily I would consider using onions in soup) gave a lovely sweetness.

I added butter beans before liquidising the soup to thicken, but I also warmed whole butterbeans in the final dish for my middle child, who hunts out the almonds like treasure, when I make Chinese soup. Adding whole butter beans is entirely optional - the little one made faces and picked them all out, but finished what was left in his bowl. Grilled cheese on bagels was the accompaniment of choice.

The butter makes the soup quite rich - for a lighter version, use olive oil.

Ingredients
  • 4-5 smallish carrots, approx. 300-350g
  • 25g butter (or use olive oil for a lighter soup)
  • A small piece of fresh ginger, approx. 1cm cubed
  • 3 shallots
  • 400ml chicken stock (I used one Kallo Organic chicken stock cube), or vegetable stock
  • 2 tbsp ready to use butter beans, drained and rinsed - for liquidising
  • (Optional) 100g ready to use butter beans for adding whole to soup
  • Salt and pepper to season
Serves 3

Instructions
  • Peel the carrots and chop roughly. Peel the shallots and chop roughly
  • Melt the butter in a heavy-based pan over a medium heat. When it starts to just bubble, add the shallots and stir to coat. Continue to heat and stir for 2-3 minutes to soften the shallots
  • Peel the ginger and grate finely. Add the ginger to the shallots and stir for a minute. Add the carrots and continue to stir for 3-4 minutes
  • Add the chicken stock and bring the mixture to the boil. Reduce the heat to a gentle boil, put a lid on the pan and cook for 25 minutes
  • Add 2 tbsp cooked, drained butter beans to the pan and cook for a further 5 minutes
  • Remove the pan from the heat and liquidise with s stick blender. Add seasoning if necessary
  • (Optional) Return the pan to the heat, add a few more spoonfuls of butter beans and warm through
  • Serve in warmed bowls
Carrot and Ginger Soup with Butter Beans

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