Orange Carrot Soup with Cumin and Crème Fraiche

I am in love with this soup. I read about it two weeks ago and I’ve already made it twice since then. When the weather turns super hot, I plan on trying it chilled, and I am so excited about that.

Neko isn’t a soup girl. Well, not a pureed soup girl. She loves miso soup, especially poured over rice, and bean soups full of things she can pick out and eat. But she’s never been into purees.

We first introduced solid foods when Neko was six months old. I started with homemade pureed squash, sweet potatoes, etc. But Neko really had no interest.

After a week or two of watching her spit out pureed veggies, I started steaming the heck out of fresh veggies and giving them to her whole. That was a hit. She really liked being able to grab the food with her own hands and bite off pieces. A lot of it came back out, but at least she started to show an interest in food. And it made for some awesome messy kid photos.

Whenever I make a pureed soup for dinner and I want Neko to actually eat, I pull out a bunch of the soup contents just before pureeing. For this soup, I scooped out a bunch of cooked carrots for her to eat and then served them to her whole with a dollop of crème fraiche on top.

For now it works. I’d like her to eat soup with us eventually, but at the moment I’m just glad she’s getting veggies into her system.

Honeyed Carrot & Orange Soup
adapted from Running with Tweezers
serves 2 ½ for dinner
2 T butter
1 1/2 pounds carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 cups vegetable or low sodium chicken stock
2 cups water
4 T fresh squeezed orange juice
1 T honey
creme fraiche or yogurt for topping
2 T toasted cumin seeds for topping

Melt the butter gently in a medium saucepan then add the carrots, onion and garlic. Put the lid on the pot and cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables have softened but not browned (about 10-15 minutes).

Pour in the stock, water and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and simmer, partially covered, for 25-30 minutes or until the vegetables are very soft. Remove from heat.

Puree soup until smooth using an immersion blender. Add orange juice and bring back to a simmer. Add honey and salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with a swirl of crème fraiche, and a sprinkle of toasted cumin seeds.