El Cheapo Carrot and Orange Soup

Tonight my daughter asked me if we could get carrot soup from Burgoo (a local chain in Vancouver known for their soups and stews). Since it was rainy and I was feeling lazy I said sure. Little did I know they had taken it off the menu – I found this out after slogging there in the rain. However, they assured me the butternut squash soup was really good so I agreed to try a half order of that. I kind of thought the bag was a little light after paying my $6 and leaving. I should have looked before I left. When I got back to the car I realized I had maybe (maybe) 8 oz. of soup. That’s when I got annoyed. Sorry, but that kind of dough for that little soup ticks me off. So, when I went to pick my daughter up from dance I stopped by the grocery store and grabbed a bag of organic carrots and an orange.  I found two reasonable recipes in Best of Bridge and Looneyspoons which provided the basic idea…I mean it’s carrot soup…how hard can it be? Turns out it’s not hard at all and I’ll be damned if I ever pay $6 for a cup of soup ever again…even if my kid did say the butternut squash soup was delicious (in fact it did smell like heaven but never mind about that).

For el’ cheapo carrot and orange soup (sure as hell ain’t no $6 / 8 oz)…the orange and a 5lb bag of organic carrots tipped the scale at $4.50… you will need:

1/4 c. butter
1 large yellow onion peeled, cut in half and then cut in thin slices
2 garlic cloves peeled and minced
4 c. chicken stock or I used 2 cubes of McCormicks vegetable soup mix and 4 c. water
12 large carrots peeled and rough chopped
Juice and zest of one large orange
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Melt the butter in a heavy bottom soup pot and saute the onions on medium-low until they start to caramelize (this takes a while but it’s worth it).
2. While the onions are cooking mince the garlic cloves and heat up the stock. Add the garlic to the stock.
3. Once the onions are caramelized, add the carrots and the stock with the garlic.
4. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Cover the pot, reduce the heat to a simmer and let simmer for about 30 minutes or until the carrots are very tender.
5. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes.
6. Using a slotted spoon lift out the carrots and onions into a bowl and let cool until they stop steaming.
7. Juice the orange.
8. Get out your trusty blender (or cuisinart or if you have one of those hand blender gadgets use that).
9. In batches (if you don’t have a hand blender gadget…which I don’t) whiz up the carrots and onions with some orange juice and a bit of the soup broth. Add the pureed mixture back to the pot as you go. Repeat until all the orange juice and carrot/onion mixture has been pureed and added back to the pot.
10. Zest the orange peel and stir the works together over a low heat.
11. Add salt and pepper to taste and enjoy.

Yield: 8 servings (beats the hell out of $6 a bowl if you ask me)

This soup is really good. It’s got just the right balance of carrot to orange and the sunny orange colour makes you forget about the dreary rain of  mid-October.