Carrot Coriander Soup

Do you ever think, "What in the world am I going to do with all this leftover coriander?"

No? Oh, ok. Well, even if you don't have any extra to get rid of, this is a great recipe if you want a healthy, yummy winter soup.

I made it a few weeks ago after I bought some coriander at the Farmer's Market for salsa and had a bunch left over. I searched online and landed on the BBC's Good Food page featuring this recipe with carrots, potatoes, and - you guessed it!- coriander. Feel free to visit the link for the original recipe, but I'm going to give it below as well, because some of the measurements are in "British" on their site. (You know- metric).

You'll need:
- 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 tsp. ground coriander
- 1 potato, chopped
- 1 lb. of carrots (about 4 large carrots, 6-8 small ones)
- 5 cups of vegetable or chicken stock*
- a handful of coriander
- half-and-half**
*You might say, "Five cups is an odd measurement for broth." I agree. You know what's even weirder? 1.2 Liters. I have become the queen of rounding over here because everything is measured differently. (Warning- rounding only works with cooking. Baking is a whole notha' subject.)

**This is optional:  half-and-half automatically makes it a little less healthy, but creamier.

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onion, and fry for 5 minutes until softened. Stir in the ground coriander and potato, then cook for 1 minute. Add the carrots and stock, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat. Cover and cook for 20 minutes until carrots are tender.
2. Transfer to a food processor and add the coriander, and blitz until smooth. (Blitz- such a great word. By the way, you may need to do this in batches if you don't have a very big food processor. You can also use an immersion blender  - they're perfect for soups.) Return to the pan, taste, and add salt if necessary, then reheat and serve (with some tasty bread on the side!)

Here's the finished product:

I thought it was really good. Brandon thought it was pretty good. :) Try it out and let me know what you think!

I know you guys would probably like to hear more about Brandon. Half of you readers are his family and friends and you're probably getting antsy reading about ladies' groups and palaces. Since I'll be writing about his life (because bless his heart, he's too busy to blog!) I figured he should have some say in it too. A post is coming- be watching for it!