Don’t worry: this excellent soup delivers far more than my poor photography skills could ever express.

Curried Carrot and Coconut Soup

Tuesday, February 2, 2021

I love my Dutch oven.

To be fair, I’ve always been the kind of person to become disproportionately attached to inanimate objects. As a child, I rotated my stuffed animals each night, always worrying that Burt was growing jealous of Hoppity Head or fearing that the latter was self-conscious about her thinning fur. My poor mother had to wash my blanket in the dead of night, and when I woke up once to discover its absence, the tolerant woman let me claim my sopping wet prize out of the wash.

I wish I could say I outgrew these childish behaviors. Yet I here I stand with a car named Colette, and still, I give her bumper a loving tap whenever I leave her parked outside, like an old cowboy stabling his horse for the evening. (If this practice coincides with my wearing my hair in a low ponytail, it only heightens my already unfortunately striking resemblance to Paul Revere.) I even reference my laptop with she/her/hers pronouns, as in “I know the wifi is bad, but the old girl’s really trying.”

I confess all this only so that you understand what I mean when I say I love my Dutch oven.

I suspect it is at least half the reason I love soup so much because making soup means getting out my beautiful, reliable, solid, perfect Le Creuset.

The cornflower blue of this magnificent creature is the shade by which I judge all other blues. Its enamelware constancy and dependability offer unwavering support to my kitchen adventures, and though I may doubt my own abilities and the doneness of my cakes until the end of days, my faith in this old stalwart of the stove is as unshakeable as Julia Child’s love of butter.

And yes, to answer your inevitable assumption in the affirmative, this stunning masterpiece of kitchenware is the nicest thing I own, and no, I did not purchase it myself. When I was moving out, my mother mentioned how much more often I used the Dutch oven than she, and would I like to take it with me? With frankly alarming alacrity — and probably more open enthusiasm than is really appropriate — I accepted her generous offer and immediately found a place of honor for the glorious thing on an eye-level shelf in my postage-stamp-sized apartment.

And now, after all this gushing, I will share with you a favorite joint venture from my pot and Me: this warm, spicy, satisfying Curried Carrot and Coconut Soup from the one and only Mark Bittman.

It’s easy, adaptable, affordable, insanely quick, and impossibly delicious. Just try not to make your Dutch oven jealous when you rave about it.

Curried Carrot and Coconut Soup (loosey-goosey recipe from the great Mark Bittman, via New York Times Cooking)

Note: This recipe is one of my favorites, so I’ve made it several times. It’s quick and simple, a little spicy, pretty dang healthy, and very easy on the budget, allowing me to splurge — both calorically and financially — on the occasional twice-baked almond croissant or strawberry-rhubarb brioche. I’ve gotten quite lax with how strictly I adhere to the recipe as originally presented, and that looseness is represented in the amounts/volumes given for each ingredient below. Luckily, it’s a soup: very forgiving, and always delicious!

Ingredients:

• 1 to 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1 smallish onion, roughly chopped
• 3/4 to 1 lb carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch coins
• 1 teaspoon peeled, grated fresh ginger (I usually take about an inch or so of fresh ginger, peel it, then grate on the finest side of my multi-purpose grater right into the pot when called for)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, to taste (I tend to be generous with the spices)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric, to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander, to taste (when I ran out of coriander, I subbed an equal amount of garam marsala and was so pleased with the result as to repeat the substitution!)
• Pinch or dash of cayenne pepper
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 1/2–1 cup unsweetened coconut milk, to taste (I’ve never actually measured at this step, but tend to be more conservative with the creamy stuff — also, both low fat and full-fat coconut milk work well here, though I’d stick with the stuff in a can that you find in the grocery baking aisle, as opposed to the coconut beverage located with the other alternative milk in the dairy section)
• Juice from 1/2 to 1 lime
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• Cilantro, if you have it (I never have, but think it sounds so good I have to pass on this recommendation)

Protocol:

1. In a medium-large pot or Dutch oven, heat the butter until the foam subsides over medium heat. Add the diced chopped onions, sprinkle with a little salt, and stir to coat with butter. Add the chopped carrots along with the spices and ginger. Stir and cook until softened, about 10 minutes.
2. Add the stock; there should be enough to cover the vegetables. Bring the pot to a boil over high heat.
3. Reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking until the carrots are cooked through about 10 to 15 minutes.
4. If you have an immersion blender, purée the soup in the pot. If not, wait until the soup cools slightly and purée in a food processor or blender. Or, if you are me and only have a wee small smoothie-sized blender, let the soup cool slightly — you can always heat it back up — then blend in batches. Add enough coconut milk to bring the soup to the consistency you want. You can also add a little more stock or water if necessary; I have never found it so, though I suppose I like this soup on the thicker side.
5. Adjust the seasoning (depending on the stock you use, you may need more or less salt), and add lime juice to taste. Garnish with cilantro, if using, and serve.

Happy eating!