Carrot Soup with Miso and Sesame

THREE MORE DAYS until I'm home in Mississippi with my family. I can't wait. It has been an incredibly long seven months here in Beijing. Since I wasn't home for Thanksgiving or Christmas I'll have both when I get home, including a big turkey dinner. My mom and I will be cooking up a storm, and I can't wait. It will be nice to have access to an actual oven, not the "easybake" oven I have here (aka toaster/convection oven). I already have a list started for all the things I want to make while I'm there, so stay tuned!

The second I saw this soup on Smitten Kitchen I knew I had to have it. First of all, I love carrot soup, second, if Deb doesn’t love carrot soup but loved this one it has to be good, and third, I knew it would be easy to get the miso and sesame. HELLO...I am in China after all, and there’s a Japanese grocery store down the street.  Being that we’re all still recovering from Christmas binges, this soup is perfect for those of us who made resolutions to eat better.

Carrot Soup with Miso and Sesame

Ingredients

Soup:

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 pounds carrots, peeled, thinly sliced*

1 large onion, chopped

4 large or 6 medium cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed (naturally, I did 6 large. I love garlic)

1 tablespoon finely chopped or grated ginger, or more to taste (could easily be doubled)

4 cups vegetable broth

¼ cup white miso paste

To finish:

Drizzle of toasted sesame oil

2 scallions very thinly sliced

Directions

Heat oil in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add carrots, onion, and garlic, and sauté until onion is translucent, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add broth and ginger; bring to a boil. Cover and simmer about thirty minutes, or until carrots are tender.

Carefully puree soup in a blender in batches, blending in the miso during the last batch. Return soup to the pot, and season with salt and pepper (I found that the miso was salty enough, so I didn’t add any salt).

Ladle into bowls and garnish with a TINY drizzle of sesame oil and a small amount of scallions.

What you see in the picture I took was my bowl of soup, where I added way too much oil. It just needs a teensy bit to reach carrot miso sesame perfection. I even tried some without the oil and it was still very flavorful.

*Save the peels! I always save scraps of onions, carrots, and celery (especially the leaves), and put it in the freezer. Once I have a bag full, which doesn’t take long, I use the scraps to make stock.

Recipe Source: adapted from Smitten Kitchen