Friday’s Fixin’s: Spicy Coconut Carrot Soup

Spicy Coconut Carrot Soup

Today’s Friday’s Fixin’s is a last minute – and extra special! – addition to the blog. I’d like to introduce you to my friend and chef, Nirasha Holcomb. She the owner of The Food Liaison, a boutique catering company in Santa Barbara that specializes in local, organic, healthy, comforting food.

We share a love of clean, healthy and delicious food, “especially from the farmer’s market.” Nirasha said that her fridge is stocked with all varieties of veggies from brussels sprouts to turnips to Persian cucumbers and that she prefers them in the raw with a delicious dip or tapenade. One of the other Silver Linings about Nirasha is that she rocks vegan, gluten free food. I mean, ROCKS it!

Nirasha was so thoughtful yesterday and dropped off some (vegan, gluten free) Spicy Coconut Carrot Soup. To be completely and totally honest, I was a little hesitant about it.  After all, I’m not a big fan (read: I despise!) curry.  And the thought of all of these ingredients together just didn’t sound all that appetizing.  Under most circumstances, I would just forgo a dish, but I have loved every morsel of food that Nirasha has ever made, so I decided to try it and good gracious did I ever LOVE-LOVE-LOVE it.  Seriously.  After saying “Thank You,” I asked if I could share it with you all — because it’s THAT good.

It turns out that soup is her favorite thing to cook. Nirasha told me, “You know you’re a good cook when you can cook a soup that reminds you of home. Home is where the heart is.”  Indeed, Nirasha. Indeed.

Hope that you enjoy this soup as much as I am!

Spicy Coconut Carrot Soup

By Chef Nirasha Holcomb

Serves 4-6

 Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 6-7 large carrots, sliced
• 2-3 tablespoons Mae Ploy Yellow Thai Curry Paste
• 1 cup vegetable stock
• 2 cans coconut milk
• 5 large carrots, chopped
• salt & pepper, to taste

Instructions: 

• Heat the grapeseed oil in a large soup pot. Add the onion, garlic and first batch of carrots. Saute for 3-5 minutes. Add the curry paste. Let the curry infuse throughout the veggies for another 3-5 minutes. Add the vegetable stock and cook until carrots have softened then turn the heat down to a low simmer. Add one can of coconut milk and stir to combine.
• Meanwhile, add the second can of coconut milk and the other 5 raw carrots along with 1 ½ cups of soup mixture to a high-speed blender, like a Vita-Mix. Puree until completely incorporated, about 1-2 minutes.
• Add blended mixture back to soup pot and then add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!