Moroccan Carrot Soup

We had big cooking plans last week. So big, in fact, that we spent all of our free time cooking which left me little time to update. So now that the weekend is here I am updating with our most recent recipes.

This one actually comes from our friends Elysa and Andy, who invited us over a couple months ago and made this soup for dinner for us and another couple which happened to include an individual who is gluten free. I am not a big cooked carrot fan, but to be honest when I first took a taste of this soup I could not even guess what vegetable it was made with. Easy to prepare, healthy, and incredibly tasty.

Moroccan Carrot Soup
1/4 stick butter
1 small chopped white onion
1 lb carrots, peeled and chopped
2.5 cups chicken broth
1.5 teaspoons cumin
1 tablespoon honey
juice from 1/2 fresh lemon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 cup plain kefir (or yogurt)

Begin by melting the butter in a large pot. Add carrots, onion, chicken broth, and cumin. Cover and cook for 20 minutes until carrots are soft. Using a food processor or blender, make the soup one consistency and pour into a bowl. Add honey, lemon juice, allspice, and kefir and stir together. Serve warm. (The original recipe did not call for the yogurt to be mixed in the soup, but rather to be drizzled on top. However, I prefer it mixed in and then I still drizzle some yogurt on top of the soup). Salt and pepper to taste.

This soup has a great, unique flavor and would be fantastic for all you vegetarians (just use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth) out there. The soup could easily be made vegan with a few substitutions---margarine instead of butter, vegetable broth instead of chicken broth, and forget the yogurt or use soy yogurt.

If you think you will like this soup as much as we do, make double the recipe to ensure leftovers!