Carrot Soup with Sesame Cream
A balancing food in between the Christmas indulgence
Christmas usually comes as a surprise to me. I know, that can’t really be, after all, there is hardly anything safer in the world than that December 24th is Christmas Eve. I wish I would manage to spend the whole of December in a blissful pre-Christmas mood every year. In my imagination I would have a few twigs ready on the first Advent that would give our house a Christmassy atmosphere. Different types of cookies would already be stacked in pretty tins. And of course the Christmas presents would already be in the closet. Instead, December is usually my busiest month, plus getting a cold, and the beautiful pre-Christmas fantasy sinks into nothing. Well, life is life and unfortunately it is not always as beautifully Instagram-polished as we would like it to be.
I am now looking forward to the holidays and to having time to be quiet and review the year. To take a breath after the hectic pre-Christmas hustle and bustle, the too much eating, talking and drinking. Lying on the sofa with a good book and drinking tea. Making soup and watching old movies. Walking the dog. All the things that give me strength again and that are not only good for myself but also for those around me. After all, Christmas is the festival of love. And love is not expressed in giving a bunch of presents to another. But in being present and giving from the heart. The actual gifts can then be simple. My best gifts are the letters and little photo books that my husband has been giving me for years. They capture his thoughts or shared moments, are very personal and that is precisely why they are so good. When I held our first cookbook in my hand, it felt exactly the same – personal and like a gift that was already on the way to the bookstores. And I would like three of you to put this present under the Christmas tree. You are cordially invited to take part in our book raffle. You can find the conditions of participation below. (Unfortunately the raffle has already finished.)
And now to the recipe of the week: carrot soup with sesame cream. In my eyes, carrots and sesame are a real dream team. In one of my favorite salads (carrot-sesame salad with mint from our book “Wellcuisine”) they already created a wonderfully harmonious pas de deux. And because I prefer my salad warm in winter, I made a soup based on the same idea. A soup like this is wonderful for Christmas time, because it is honest, simple and soothing for the stomach and taste buds. After indulging in too many cookies and Christmas dinners, a soup like this is the best remedy to return to balance and wellbeing.
Christmas raffle
In cooperation with our publisher Knaur Balance, I would like to raffle 3 of our previously published books. To participate, please write a comment under this post, stating which of our books you would like to have and why. We ship within Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The closing date for entries is Sunday, December 17th at 10 a.m. I will notify the winners by email. If you take part, please make sure to check your email on Sunday afternoon, because if you have won, I need your postal address to send your book to you as soon as possible so that it arrives before Christmas. I wish you luck! The raffle has already ended and we have notified the winners by email. Thanks to all who participated!
CARROT SOUP WITH SESAME CREAM
Ingredients
For the soup:
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 medium onion peeled and chopped
- 2 tbsp peeled and chopped ginger
- 600 g carrots washed and sliced
- 1 tsp salt
- 200 ml coconut milk
- 800 ml hot water
For the sesame cream:
- 1.5 tbsp tahini sesame cream
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 tbsp maple syrup alternatively: honey
- 50 ml hot water
For the crumble:
- 2 tbsp sunflower seeds
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
Equipment
- blender
Instructions
- Heat a large saucepan and let the coconut oil melt in it. Fry the onion while stirring for about 2 minutes, then add the ginger, carrots and salt. Fry for another 2 minutes, stirring, then deglaze with coconut milk and water. With the lid closed and over medium heat, simmer for about 20-25 minutes until the carrots are tender.
- In the meantime, prepare the sesame cream. To do this, stir all the ingredients in a bowl until you have a smooth, creamy sauce (can take about 2 minutes). Put aside.
- For the crumble, briefly fry the sunflower seeds and sesame seeds in a preheated pan while stirring until they start to smell. Put aside.
- When the carrots are soft, puree the contents of the soup pot in the blender until creamy. There shouldn't be any chunks left, the consistency of the soup should be silky smooth (this doesn't work quite as well with a hand blender). Pour back into the pot, reheat slightly and season with salt and pepper.
- Pour the soup into bowls or deep plates, drizzle with the sesame cream and serve sprinkled with the crumble.