Gingered Carrot and Apple Soup and Respect the Bird

I just recently learned of a campaign called Respect The Bird through my friends at Allrecipes.com.  It is a blog dedicated to the appreciation of Thanksgiving day and staying mindful of and fully celebrating it without getting distracted by all the craziness of Holiday shopping that seems to have snuck into the stores while everyone was out trick or treating.  It is a blog completely putting the turkey on a pedestal for us to remember Thanksgiving and all the wonderful parts of our lives we are thankful for.  So I am dedicating this posting to the Respect The Bird campaign by making a list of what I am thankful for....and also giving you a nice light soup recipe you can make this week before Tday.

Top 10 things I am thankful for:

1. Coming from a loving and supportive family and for all the love my family has given me.  My appreciation and thankfulness is beyond words.  You have given me the world.

2. My close friends near and far away.  I have learned so much from each and every one of you and appreciate you all so very much.

3. A very lovely apartment and roof over my head and a building full of friendly neighbors who all love our building so much...and for our house dinner parties.

4. The internet.  The ability to look at a friend's pictures from a yoga retreat in the Phillipines, while instant messaging with a friend in D.C. and a friend in New York simultaneously, while paying a bill all the while listening to a personalized radio station is pretty dang amazing.  I would still be writing in a recipe journal sitting on my bookshelf for only my eyes if the blogisphere didn't exist.

5. Coffee and wine.  Enough said.

6.  The luxury of having a great education starting with preschool all the way through graduate school and the ability to use all of the knowledge and opportunities to help myself and hopefully others.

7. My health and the ability to walk everywhere around town for exercise, go to yoga, and workout at the gym.

8. A good job where I get to learn so many different components of research, work with a nice group of people and use a full kitchen to cook my lunch everyday.

9. Airplanes and the ability to be across the country or world in a matter of hours.

10. The genius who gave us the idea of leggings and boots.

Now it is your turn to sit down and write your list...and show it off on your refrigerator at home.  You can even put a sticker on it to reward yourself.  In the meantime, try cooking this soup recipe I made up last week.  It is super simple and is a great lunch soup and freezes nicely too.



Gingered Carrot and Apple Soup
Yields 7-8 servings

In the spirit of eating cleanly last week and this week, I stocked the fridge and freezer with several containers of soup.  What a better way to eat your carrots and apples but in a pureed soup spiced heavily with ginger and curry powder? 

1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
3 medium apples, roughly sliced
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1 lb. bag carrots
2 tsp curry powder
1 lemon, juiced and zested
4 cups vegetable broth (homemade or store bought)
Salt and pepper

Heat a large pot or Dutch oven on medium heat.  Pour in the olive oil and allow to heat for a few minutes.  Drop in the onion and saute for about 5 minutes.  In goes the apple next.  Sprinkle some salt and pepper in at this point.  Stir and saute for another 5 minutes or so.  Your kitchen will begin to have a sweet onion-y aroma.  Add in the ginger and carrots next and saute for another 5 minutes.  Stir in the curry powder, coating all the onions, apples and carrots.  Add the lemon zest, juice and vegetable broth and cover.  Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes. 

Turn off heat and allow to cool slightly.  Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender or food processor.  Once it is all pureed, add back into the pot and turn on the heat for a few minutes if it has gotten cold.  Serve with a sprinkling of fresh parsley and alongside a nice fresh arugula salad.