The Spice Is Right: 5 Minute Soup To Welcome In The Fall

Tomorrow is Sept 21st, the official first day of Fall.  Can you even believe it??  Here in Coastal Southern California we've suffered a very short summer.  I remember having a tan back in May...or was is June...regardless, it lasted about 5 days.  Since, sun by the beach has peaked out next too never.  So i am bidding adieu to summer 2010 and welcoming in the fall 2010 season.  Bring me scarfs, tall boots, sweater knit arm warmers, and a sassy new style!

If you live somewhere like i do that has micro-climates (cool gray skies where i live, but sunny 10 miles inland) it can be confusing figuring out what to eat:  Do i need something warming because i feel cold now?? or cooling because i'll be where there's heat in 30 minutes??  light summery foods or heavy more dense winter foods??  Since we are in a time of seasonal transition i think it's best to focus on your intuition and how the weather is currently affecting you.  Speaking Ayurvedically, Fall brings with her more coolness and dryness that naturally permeates into our bodies (vata dosha).  To neutralize these effects one should include more warming and moist foods into their diet.

To welcome in the change in seasons i've come up with a great soup that can easily be used on a sunny day or a chilly day.  If it's sunny out and you feel warm, you'll use less of the warming spices and drink the soup cold, optionally adding in more cooling coconut flesh.  For the days you feel chilly or down right cold, up the spices and heat the soup.  If you have a Vitamix this soup will take you 5 minutes to make.  If you don't....well...you should get one.  Meanwhile you can still make the soup, but you may need to tag on another 5 or 10 minutes.

You'll need:

Blender
4-5 med-large carrots
1 whole young coconut:  Use all of the water and 3 large spoonfuls of the flesh
1 small clove garlic
1/2 to 1 inch nub of ginger, peeled
One handful of fresh chopped cilantro
optional spices: curry 1/4 tsp, tagine spice scant 1/8 tsp, garam masala scant 1/8 tsp , cinnamon- 2 light dashes, cayenne - 2 dashes

If you don't have a Vitamix you will need to grate your carrots before blending.  For this you can use a hand grater, or it's much faster if you do this in a Food Processor with a shredding disc.

ingredients in tagine spices

ingredients in garam masala

Directions:

Scrub or peel the carrots and cut into 2 inch chunks (or grate).  Toss these into the Blender with the coconut water and 3 scoops of coconut.  Add the garlic and ginger and let the blender rip.  Taste.  Add any additional spices that are listed above.  I added approximately the amounts listed above, and had a very spicy hot soup.  If you have a Vitamix, let your blender run until it's the temperature you desire.  If not, transfer to a pot and heat slow on a low setting to help retain the nutritional qualities from the carrots and coco-water.  Grab a handful of chopped cilantro and stir into each bowl of soup.  This makes two servings or one very large bowl.