Carrots at every course, at every meal

So, I put those dee-lish carrots from my CSA to work and made a big batch of Ginger-Carrot soup over the weekend. It's funny, I like raw carrots well enough (but not overly so), and cooked carrots are just ok..

But a Ginger Carrot soup really hits the spot; it's one of my favorite soups, actually. Whoa! And now that I think about it, that ginger-carrot-orange combination does me right at *all* dinner courses: I did say "Let them eat Carrot-orange Cake" just a few months ago. haha. In any case, I've made a few versions of the soup over the years and have honed in on this recipe as my favorite:

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BLEND
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup minced onion
3/8 cup minced fresh ginger (peeled)
3 cups low-sodium vegetable stock
4 cups sliced peeled carrots (about 1 1/2 pounds)

SWIRL
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup canned coconut milk
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

GARNISH
salt + pepper to taste (a MUST!)
1/4 cup Toasted unsweetened coconut flakes (optional)
1/4 cup matchstick-size strips peeled carrot (optional)
1 tablespoon matchstick-size strips peeled fresh ginger (optional)

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1. Heat both oils in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat; add the onion and ginger and sauté until the onion pieces are translucent (about 5 minutes).

2. Add the chicken stock and sliced carrots. Cover and simmer until carrots are tender (about 30 minutes - but will depend on the size of your carrot pieces).

3. Working in batches, puree mixture in a blender or food processor. Pureeing hot liquids in a blender is always an, um, recipe for a mess in the kitchen, but chow.com has a tip here you might want to try to avoid massive spillage. You could also use an immersion blender if you have one, but I think they have their own challenges in terms of splatter and - more importantly - getting a consistent puree. But, in short, use what ya got!

4. Return pureed soup to saucepan and mix in the orange juice, then the coconut milk. Cook over low heat 5 minutes (until warmed through) and then mix in ground cinnamon.

5. The soup at this point definitely needs some salt and pepper; how much is up to you (or your guests). In fact, you might want to ladle the soup into bowls now and let your guests decide how much they want to put in themselves. But if you're going to add some into the big batch itself, I'd say start with 1/2 teaspoon and go from there (you'll probably want more, but start slow because you can always put more in, but you can't take it out!).

6. If it's not already there, ladle soup into bowls and top with any combination of the toasted coconut flakes, carrot or ginger strips under the GARNISH list. Give your guests the option of more salt and pepper, and you should be good to go!

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In the future, I'll probably fool around with adding some more spices, something to play off the coconut milk like curry powder or star anise or something. Maybe even add more coconut milk, or a bit of crème fraîche. If you have any ideas (or want to roll up them sleeves and cook with me), let me know..