Roasted Carrot-Quinoa Soup with Zesty Gremolata
I found the original recipe for this when looking for an early fall soup to serve for the Jewish holidays. I found the original version, written by Jessica Grosman on the Jewish Food Experience website. It looked unlike anything I had made before, but, very nutrient dense so I decided to play with it. In my version, I roast the vegetables to get a richer flavor. I use more garlic, but, I roast it so that it is smooth and flavorful without the bite of raw garlic. The turmeric ensures that you get a beautiful orange color and is very anti-inflammatory! I have made this soup with a take on Jessica’s gremolata, which is delicious and how I wrote the recipe here. You can also simply garnished it with a few pomegranate seeds, raw pepita seeds and cilantro, also delicious!
Ingredients:
Soup:
2 Tablespoons avocado oil
1 yellow onion, quartered
1 head of garlic
2 lbs. orange carrots, ends removed and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
8 cups vegetable stock
2 cups cooked quinoa
Gremolata:
2 scallions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed in a garlic press
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
2 Tablespoons lemon zest
1/4 cup cooked quinoa
1-2 Tablespoons good quality olive oil
Directions:
On a sheet pan, spread out carrots and onions so that they are laying flat. Drizzle avocado oil over top and toss them in the oil with your hands. Cut the top 1/4 of the garlic head off and drizzle with oil before placing into a ramekin and wrapping it with tin foil. Place ramekin on your sheet pan and roast at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes, until vegetables are soft and browning. Take out of oven and let rest for at least 15 min. to cool.
In the meantime, pour stock/broth into a medium sized pot with the turmeric. Bring to a simmer, add quinoa and turn heat off. Leave broth and quinoa in the covered pot to cool for 30 min.
Once vegetables are cool, place half of the carrots and onions into a blender with half of the broth. Unwrap the garlic and squeeze the soft roasted garlic out of the garlic head and into a bowl, making sure that none of the papery skin gets into the bowl. Place the garlic into the blender with the vegetables and broth and blend until completely smooth. Once smooth, pour soup into a large bowl and repeat with the rest of the vegetables and broth.
Once all of the soup is in the bowl, stir it all together and taste. Now is when you can add salt and pepper to taste.
Right before serving the soup, combine the finely chopped scallions, garlic, parsley, quinoa and lemon zest in a small bowl. Drizzle in 1-2 Tablespoons of good quality olive oil just so that it comes together. If your soup is seasoned the way you like it, you should not need to season the gremolata any further. Place about 1 Tablespoon of gremolata onto each bowl of soup before serving.
Soup is best served warm. Thin the soup to your liking before serving with a little bit of water. Soup will keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to a month. Make the gremolata right before serving. It will only last about 1 day and the fresher the better!