This post was first written in June 2013 and updated in June 2021.
Carrots are extremely nutritious and we have been eating them for thousands of years. Worldwide, 40 million tonnes of carrots are grown, the majority in China.
If you grow carrots in the garden, leave them until their 2nd year, and they will reward you with these gorgeous flowers
Making soup using carrots
A delicious, quick and simple soup, and only 20p a serving, this carrot and lentil soup can be whipped up in no time. Many vegetables can be substituted for the carrots, depending on what you have in.
Carrots are a very important flavouring for soups. In French cuisine, they are usually chopped small and paired with onions, carrots, and celery, with the traditional ratio being 2:1:1, two parts onion, one part carrot, and one part celery. Mirepoix, as this is called in French cooking, is the flavor base for a wide variety of Western dishes: stocks, soups, stews and sauces.
In Italy, Turkey, Germany, Russia and Ukraine, carrots are used as part of the flavour base of many traditional dishes
How To Make Carrot and Lentil Soup
Saute the onion and the roughly chopped carrots in the oil until they are soft. Add the lentils, a litre of water and simmer for 20 minutes until the vegetables are soft. Whizz with a stick blender or in a liquidiser.
Add the grated carrot and leave for a minute to soften, finally add the milk and season with salt and pepper
Serve half this soup between 2 people.
If you are following the Week One Plan, the other half of the soup is used on another day
What else can I use?
For the classic carrot and coriander soup, if you have any fresh coriander, add a little, finely chopped, at the end. Dried coriander is also good, but not as pungent.
- Almost any root vegetable would work well in place of the carrot.
- You could change the lentils to any other bean or pulse depending on what you have
- I have made a delicious version by adding a handful of butter beans for instance.
- I have made this using swede, or parsnip, and of course, any vegetable medley would work well.
- A little toasted cumin would work well with carrots, or maybe some fresh orange zest
‘Whip Round The Fridge Soup’ is always good just before you go shopping. You typically start with an onion, sauted, then add in any vegetable that is lurking, unloved, in the vegetable drawer, throw in a cup of red lentils, simmer in some water, season it up, and there you have it – lunch! I have added wilted spring onions, lettuce, cucumber past its best, rocket from the garden, dried up bits of bacon or ham – not all at once! I have even added the bones from the plates of a chicken dinner from the previous evening to give a bit of extra flavour, just take them out when the soup is done, before you whizz it up, or don’t whizz, you might like it more chunky
Got lots of carrots left?
This soup is from Meal Plan 1, a complete 7 day plan for 2 adults. Contains 3 meals a day, plus snacks , all recipes and a shopping list
Ingredients
- 150 ml milk
- 70 g onion chopped
- 550 g carrots 450g roughly chopped, no need to peel, 100g coarsely grated
- 100 g red lentils
- 30 ml veg oil
Instructions
- Saute the onion and the roughly chopped carrots in the oil until they are soft.
- Add the lentils, a litre of water and simmer for 20 minutes until the vegetables are soft.
- Whizz with a stick blender or in a liquidiser.
- Add the grated carrot and leave for a minute to soften, finally add the milk and season with salt and pepper
Notes
Variations
For the classic carrot and coriander soup, if you have any fresh coriander, add a little, finely chopped, at the end. Dried coriander is also good, but not as pungent. A little toasted cumin would work well with carrots, or maybe some fresh orange zest- Almost any root vegetable would work well in place of the carrot.
- You could change the lentils to any other bean or pulse depending on what you have,
- I have made a delicious version by adding a handful of butter beans for instance.
- I have made this using swede, or parsnip, and of course, any vegetable medley would work well.
Nutrition
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