Roasted Lemon, Ginger, and Carrot Soup (Vegan and Gluten-free)

Bruce and I have had the flu, so soup has been a mainstay this week, while we try to recover. We ate all the chicken noodle soup that I made, and I was ready to try something else.

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

• 3 large carrots
• 3 large parsnips
• 1 yellow onion
• 4 large cloves of garlic
• 2/3 cup of yellow cherry tomatoes
• 1 lemon
• 1 inch to 1 1/2 inches of fresh ginger
• vegetable or olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 to 3/4 cup of cooked long grain rice
• Hot water
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dill
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon Hungarian paprika

Tools:

Blender, knife, cutting board, large sheet pan, aluminum foil, pot

Instructions

1. Turn the oven to 375 degrees F
2. Line the sheet pan with aluminum foil
3. Peel and cut up the carrots and parsnips into 2 inch chunks, and put into the sheet pan
4. Peel the onion and cut off the roots and crown. Cut it in half from root to crown, then into 1/2 slices from the root to crown. Don’t separate the layers. If they separate on their own, that’s okay. Put into the sheet pan.
5. Peel the fresh ginger and put in sheet pan.
6. Slice the lemon into 1/2 inch slices and remove the seeds
7. Place unpeeled garlic cloves on sheet pan
8. Place cherry tomatoes on sheet pan
9. Lightly drizzle the vegetables and other items on the sheet pan with the oil and toss to coat
10. Sprinkle the vegetables with salt
11. Put the sheet pan in the oven, and roast for about 20 to30 minutes. The vegetables should be soft, with some browning.
12. Bring 4 cups water to a boil
13. Peel the garlic and put it in the blender
14. Put everything else on the sheet tray into the blender
15. Add the cooked rice to the blender
16. Add enough of the boiling hot water to reach the top of the items in the blender
17. Add the herbs and spices
18. Turn on the blender and blend until smooth. You will need to scrap down the sides of the blender. Add about a 1/2 cup of hot water, blend and repeat until you have a smooth creamy soup.
19. Pour from blender into bowls and serve

Notes:

The hot water and the hot vegetables blended makes a hot soup with a lot of flavor. Additional dill or paprika could be sprinkled on top for a garnish.

I used an Evo Oil Sprayer to lightly coat the vegetables with oil. It doesn’t use as much oil as drizzling does.