Carrot, Apple And Ginger Soup

After a run of glorious sunny days, the Autumn is closing in. This carrot, apple and ginger soup makes the most of seasonal produce, freezes well and is suitable for baby weaning.

I don’t mind telling you the weekend wasn’t going well until I made this soup for lunch today.

It started off relatively quietly, in fact, too much so.  Silence as every parent knows is something to be instantly concerned about during the day.

Sure enough the 10 month old has discovered how to clamber over the various obstacles in his way at the bottom of the stairs and crawl halfway up the stairs. This is the point where I felt like screaming at him but had to tiptoe into the hall and up the stairs to grab him, as if I had made a loud noise he would have lost his hold.

One hour, €30 later, we have a stairgate installed on the living room door.  He likes to stand up at it and rattle the bars in frustration from being caged.  A neighbour called earlier and he shamed me by clinging onto the stairgate and shouting “mamama nomnomnom” at me.

Obviously I don’t feed him enough so he managed to knock a bowl of wet weetabix onto the floor while my back was turned.  I didn’t realise, I should have – he was quiet again, and turned around to see him having a grand old time slopping it with his hands, painting the floorboards, his hair, clothes, the sofa, you get the idea.

I love my children dearly but there are days when I feel like getting out of the house and having a good scream!

Anyway enough of the escapades of my 10 month old.  I figured I needed a pick me up, something to fill the belly and feed the family for lunch.  I’ve the last of a few Irish Carrots and the apples are just coming into season so what better way to serve them up than to make a nourishing soup?

This soup feeds 4 adults, you can freeze portions easily once it has cooled to room temperature.  As always for all my weaning friendly recipes, there is no salt in this soup. Add to taste after cooking if you prefer.

Ingredients

• 6 medium carrots
• 2 sticks celery
• 1 medium onion
• 1 knob of fresh ginger (about the size of your thumbnail)
• 1 medium apple
• 1 Litre Vegetable Stock
• 2 tablespoons groundnut oil

Equipment

• Chopping Board
• Sharp Knife
• Large Pot (with a secure lid)
• Vegetable Peeler
• Large Wooden Spoon
• Stick Blender/Jug Blender

Method

1. Put the pot onto the hob and turn onto a medium heat.
2. Pour the groundnut oil into the pot so that it can warm up.
3. Peel and chop the onion into small chunks.
4. Peel and chop the ginger finely.
5. Put both the ginger and onion into the pot and stir well.
6. Next, peel and roughly chop the carrots and celery. Note – I peel celery if it’s on the old & woody side, it stops your soup from becoming stringy.
7. Add the celery and carrots to the pot and stir.
8. Last to peel, core and chop is the apple – it stops it from going brown.
9. Add the apple to the pot and stir around.
10. Pour the stock over all the vegetables and bring the pot to a simmer.
11. Cover the pot with the lid and leave to simmer for approximately 45 mins.
12. After which time the vegetables should all be tender.
13. Turn off the pot and leave for 15 mins before blending and serving.
14. Normally while the soup is cooling a little I butter some bread and wrap it in tinfoil before placing into the oven at 180 degrees Celcius for hot buttered, soft bread.  It’s  good trick if your bread is a little bit hard after a few days.

Don’t forget I’ve a new competition courtesy of Robert Roberts so why not head on over to get a recipe for lovely sugarfree tea cake and enter?

Also in case you missed it, here is this week’s Wholesome Bites on Audioboo.