Curried Carrot & Smoked Honey Soup
The perfect fall harvest soup, it's thick, creamy, and has a great balance of sweet and savory. You can get creative with the vegetable combinations, using local in-season produce from farmers' markets or farm stands. The best part is that once everything is added to the slow cooker, it does all the work while you can enjoy your fall day, and when you're done there will be a warm bowl of delicious soup waiting for you. It also reheats very well!
Equipment
- 1 slow cooker
- 1 Stand blender or immersion blender
- 1 cast-iron or stainless steel skillet
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp coconut oil Olive oil can be used as well
- 1 large leek white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
- 1/2 lb carrots sliced
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp fresh ginger grated
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- 2 japanese sweet potatoes (purple skin, white flesh) peeled and chopped. *see notes below
- 3 cups chicken or chicken bone broth
- 2 cups full-fat coconut milk *see notes below
- 1/4 cup smoked honey *see notes below
Instructions
- Heat the coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the leek, and carrot and cook, stirring frequently, until the leek is soft, 5 to 7 minutes.
- Add the curry powder, salt, ginger, garlic, and cayenne pepper, and smoked honey to the skillet. Cook, stirring until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute. Transfer the leek mixture to the 4=quart slow cooker. Add the sweet potatoes, broth, and coconut milk to the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours.
- Turn off the slow cooker and remove the lid, let the soup cool slightly. Using the immersion blender or stand blender (in batches), puree the soup until smooth. Ladle the soup into bowls. You can top the soup with chives and red peppers or bacon crumbles and balsamic vinagar, or try topping the soup with whole-leaf dried sage, and oven-roasted pine nuts.
Notes
*sweet potatoes: if you can't find Japanese sweet potatoes, you can substitute the common, orange sweet potatoes.
*full-fat coconut milk: full-fat milk or heavy cream can be used instead but the milk will make the soup less thick and the heavy cream may be too sweet/rich. The amount used should be reduced from 2 cups to 1-cup. If using dairy, add it to the mixture while the soup is cooling before blending begins.
*Smoked honey: if you can't find the smoked honey you can use raw wildflower honey or for a deep molasses taste variation this soup can handle a buckwheat honey.