Creamy carrot and leek soup

Cliché, I know. The clever carrot…carrot soup? No, no my friend. This blog is not about my love for carrots or 1,001 new carrot recipes. You see, when I joined the world of blogging the very first entry had to be this recipe. It’s a creamy and colorful soup chock full of carrots, leeks and even red lentils. It’s something that I make often, thus inspiring the name. More on that here.

When I made this the other day, I was all excited to start writing about it. I would talk about how easy it is to prepare, and that you should make a double batch to freeze, and that even the kids will like it. I had it all planned out. Yet when I sat down with my laptop I had nothing to say. Not one word.

Really? A radiant orange soup beaming me in the face and I had nothing to say? Clearly I’m not cut out for this blogging stuff. I just wanted to eat the soup! So that’s what I did. I slammed my laptop shut, got myself a spoon and dove in.

I might have succumbed to writer’s block this time, but for those of you who don’t know- I’m the girl who’s in love with all things food and can’t wait to tell the world what I made for dinner last night…in detail. Who needs words anyways. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words, right?

Carrot and Leek soup

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• Author: The Clever Carrot
• Yield: about 2 quarts 1x

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Ingredients

• 3 cups of sliced leeks (about 3 leeks, white and light green part only)
• 5 cups of sliced carrots (about 10 medium carrots)
• 1/3 cup red lentils, rinsed and picked over
• 2x 1 liter cartons of low sodium organic chicken stock or veg. stock
• 2 tb. unsalted butter
• olive oil
• salt & pepper
• 1 bunch of scallions
• creme fraiche

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Instructions

1. In a large pot, heat the butter and a splash of olive oil. Medium heat is good.
2. Wash, peel and slice your carrots. The thinner you slice them the faster they’ll cook. Saute the carrots until tender, about 7-10 minutes. Meanwhile, slice your leeks vertically and then cut into half moon shapes. Submerge the sliced leeks into a large bowl of water. Use your hands to separate and remove the dirt. This step is very important as leeks can be very sandy. Dry thoroughly with a salad spinner or a clean kitchen towel, and then add to the pot. Season with salt and pepper. Saute until soft, not brown.
3. Add your red lentils, 1 1/2 cartons of stock and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and let cook away with the lid on for about 30 minutes or so. You want everything to be nice and tender and the lentils to be completely soft and broken down. While the soup is cooking, chop up some scallions for your topping.
4. When the soup is finished, puree in batches in a food processor or blender. You can also use an immersion blender for this. If your soup seems too thick, add more chicken stock.
5. Return your pureed soup back to it’s original pot and adjust seasoning to your liking. Top with chopped scallions and a dollop of creme fraiche.

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Notes

* Soup can be frozen for up to 3 months.