Vegan Winter Warmer: Carrot Ginger Cashew Creme Soup
INGREDIENTS: • cup celery, diced • 3cm piece of ginger, chopped finely • 4 cups vegetable stock • 1 medium potato, cut into large pieces • 3 cups chopped carrots • a pinch of sea salt • 1 1⁄2 teaspoons mild curry powder • 2/3 cup cashew cream (see recipe below) PREPARATION: Sauté the onions, celery, and ginger in oil in a medium sized pot until the onions are translucent (about 10 minutes). Add the stock, carrots, potato, curry powder, and salt to the pot. Bring the liquid to a boil, and then lower it to a simmer. Let it simmer for about 25 minutes, or until all of the carrots are tender. When the carrots are tender, turn off the flame. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup completely. You may also use a blender for this step, but work in small batches and be mindful of spattering liquid. Transfer the blended soup back to the pot, and warm through. Stir in 1/3 cup of the cashew cream. To serve the soup, divide it into bowls and top with a swirl of additional cashew cream. CASHEW CREME: • 2 cups raw cashews • 1 cup cold water • 1⁄2 tsp sea salt • 1 tbsp lemon juice • 2 tbsp rice malt syrup PREPARATION: Soak the cashews in cold water overnight. Drain cashews. Add them to a food processor and pulse a few times to grind them up. With the motor running, drizzle in water, stopping a few times to scrape the cashews down the food processor. You can continue to add more water, depending on how thick or thin you’d like the cream to be; you may want it as thick as whipped cream, or you may want it to be closer to the texture of coconut milk. If you do not have a food processer, you can add the cashews and the water to a high-speed blender and blend, adding water as needed, until you reach the desired consistency. We don’t recommend a conventional blender though. ...