Carrot and orange soup

Breakfast: A vanilla Vega, banana, cacao, vanilla almond milk and peanut butter smoothie. Serious win

Lunch: Potato and bean korma

Dinner: Carrot and orange soup with crusty bread

We've recently come into about a ton of carrots. Not in anyone's will, that would be quite weird - someone just brought them over.

My first thought, of course, was "SOUP!", it being the perfect season for it, and I set about making the standard carrot and coriander. Then a thought struck me: it doesn't have to be this way.

I came up with 2 awesome new recipes last night, and this was easily my favourite. The lovely zinginess of the orange sets the carrots off beautifully, leaving a soup that you can inhale in about a second. It's ridiculously simply to make, too, and is lovely when garnished with a little coriander. It has also taken the award for My Favourite Soup, hands down.

You'll need:
(Feeds 4)

4 large carrots, peeled and chopped
3 cups veg stock
1 large onion
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 1/2 cups fresh orange juice (about 3 large oranges' worth)
the juice of 1/2 a lime
a little oil
coriander to serve

Method:

Fry the onion in a little oil until translucent
Add the carrots to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes
Add the stock, turmeric, coriander and orange juice to the pan, cover, and cook for a low heat for 30 minutes, stirring regularly
Remove the pan from the heat
Allow to cool for a few minutes then blend (a hand blender is easiest) to a smooth consistency
Stir in the lime juice and either divide into storage containers for the fridge / freezer or place back into the pan for reheating
Reheat a little and serve immediately, or keep in the fridge for up to a week (will freeze for up to a year)

Carrots, as everyone knows, contain the wonderful beta-carotene, which becomes vitamin A when inside our bodies, as well as antioxidants. Oranges contain vitamin C, so when combined, this soup becomes a powerful tool for keeping winter sickness at bay as well as for keeping a bland soup routine interesting!

Carrots, unfortunately, will not help you to see in the dark. This legend arose due to the ability of British gunners to shoot down German planes in the dead of night. Although in reality this was due to sophisticated radar technologies and red light, the British didn't want the Germans knowing this and so circulated the rumour that the mass amount of carrots eaten by the British military allowed them to see in the dark. It's very likely that the British preoccupation with carrots and their ability to "improve sight" was the only good thing to come out of WWII.