Tessipes For The Vegetarian Set

tesslynch:

I’m not a vegetarian, but sometimes I throw the idea around (and then discard it); I don’t usually eat lamb, because god damn they’re cute, but my love for cows is, apparently, about a notch and a half below my love for burgers.  That said, it’s kind of nice — for the environmental reasons, the money reasons, and the conscience reasons — to skip out on meat every so often.  Last night I made carrot ginger soup and it was good enough that I thought, hey, I could do this!  Then I chased it with a prosciutto sandwich because I can’t do it, it turns out.  If you’re a veg, hats off to you.  Here’s a recipe with no meat or meat by-products, though I used dairy (butter and yogurt).  You could easily sub the butter with light-tasting olive oil (an olive lover I am not) and skip the yogurt — a couple of croutons would be rad.

Carrot Ginger Soup

5 or 6 large-sized carrots, washed & scrubbed & coarsely chopped

1 big or 2 medium-sized leeks, washed super-well (sandy!) and sliced into thin rounds

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 -2 tsp minced fresh ginger (I find this difficult to eyeball — I peel and finely chop as much ginger as can fill a cupped palm, but I really like ginger)

2 Tbsp butter

Salt and pepper

1/4 cup orange juice (I’m not insane, it’s good)

2 cups water, or 1 cup water and 1 cup dry white wine

Dollop of greek yogurt (if you’re cool like that)

Sautee garlic and ginger in butter over medium heat until golden.  Add leeks, stir, lower heat to medium low and sautee until soft, adding wine after a couple of minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Let simmer a couple of hot minutes, then add water, orange juice, and carrots — the liquid should barely cover everything.  If it doesn’t, add a splash more water or OJ.  Then go read a book or have a beer or something until the carrots are soft (fork will cut them easily), about 15 minutes or so.  It depends on how well you chopped those carrots (judging you!).  When the carrots are soft, let the soup cool for about 5 minutes, then puree in a blender.  Return to pot and let simmer over low heat as you check yo’ seasonings.  Adjust as necessary.  Spoon into bowls, stir in about half a teaspoon of greek yogurt, and serve.

Note: if you’re stuck with a ton of leftover ginger, as you undoubtedly will be, it’s wonderful steeped in tea, grated into spice cake batter, or just slice up the damn thing (peeled) and put it in iced tea or a big pitcher of water with sliced lemons or oranges.