Chunky Carrot Soup

This soup is naturally sweet, creamy, so many unique tastes and so deliciously healthy. Everything is cooked in coconut oil which can sometimes result in a sickly taste, but due to the coconut water in this soup, it enhances the flavour. A perfect soup for a winters days and can help with any cold due to the heaps of antioxidants from the chilli, ginger, garlic, lemon, turmeric... you get the point. This recipe was completely made up on the spot with the leftovers in my fridge and it turned out suprisingly well. I might go as far as to say this is my favourite soup!

Chunky Carrot Soup

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• 3 carrots, chopped

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 small red chilli, minced

• 1/2 inch ginger, grated

• 1/2 red onion, diced

• 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced

• 1/4 leek, sliced

• 1 tsp paprika

• 1 tsp turmeric

• 1 tsp ground coriander

• black pepper, to taste

• 4 tbsp coconut water

• 150ml orange juice

• one vegetable stock cube

• water

• 1/2c lentils ( I used a mix of lentils, chickpeas, barely and peas )

• 4 tsp mixed seeds

• 2 tsp lemon juice

• 2 tbsp coconut oil

Method

- Melt the coconut oil in a deep set saucepan. Once the oil is hot, add the ginger, garlic and chilli. Fry briefly for 30 seconds before adding the onions, leeks and peppers. Stir everything. Cook for a further 4 minutes.

- Stir in the spices. Stir then add in enough water to cover everything. Bring to a boil then reduce to a steady simmer. Add in the orange juice, coconut oil and stock. Stir to combine everything again.

- Add in the carrots. Cover the soup and cook until the carrots are completely soft, adding more water/coconut water if you need to.

- Meanwhile, cook the lentils according to the instructions.

- Once the carrots are cooked through, add the soup to the blender and blitz until your desired smoothness, ( I added a bit of single cream to make it creamier ). Add the soup back to the saucepan and add in the cooked lentils and seeds. Squeeze in some lemon juice and season to taste.

- Serve with some wholesome bread and you're good to go!