Carrot Ginger Soup

So finally, it's starting to feel like fall!  Fall is my favorite season - I love the cooler weather, the changing colors, the smells...and of course the food.  So here's one of my favorite cold weather soups to kick off the season!

Recipe:
1 large Onion, chopped
6-8 large Carrots, cut into large slices
Garlic, to taste
2 handfuls Cashews
1-2 inch piece of fresh Ginger, chopped
Sea Salt
Butter
Water

Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a large pan.  Add chopped onions and cook until transparent.  Add carrots, garlic, and ginger, cover with water and cook until the carrots are tender.

In a small fry pan, melt 1 tablespoon of butter and add cashews.  Cook, stirring frequently until lightly toasted.  Add to carrot mixture.

Puree soup, adding water as needed, until smooth.  Return it to the pot and add salt to taste.

Serve with sour cream or plain yogurt (I prefer Greek yogurt).

Here I sprinkled some chopped fresh cilantro into it and that was pretty good.  This is a nice spicy soup, it's not an immediate hot-and-spicy, but the ginger packs some heat that kind of builds up slowly.  The spicy ginger and the sweet carrots are great together and the cashews add a nice earthiness.

This soup also gets surprisingly creamy, even if you don't add sour cream or yogurt to it.

Like I said, this is a great cool weather soup - it's warming, easy to make, and look at how cheerful that color is!