Red Carrots are Only Red on the Outside

Some things really are just for show: Hummers (unless you're in Iraq), false eyelashes and red carrots. Really, you peel them, and they're just regular orange carrots underneath. The flavor is the same, too. So unless you intend to serve them unpeeled (which is fine with the beautiful specimens you might get in a farmer's market), their bright red cloaks are just window dressing.

Yesterday, I did a round-up of some recipes from other bloggers that I'm dying to try after the cleanse (ends this weekend when I go to Vermont!), and I indicated that I might just try Simply Life's Spicy Carrot Soup recipe and just tweek it for the cleanse. I just did that and the result is quite delicious. I used some red carrots I got from the CSA (last weekend was the last box. :-( ). I added a few things: some fresh ginger and a tiny bit of honey. Hope you like it!

Here's my version of Spicy Carrot Soup.

Spicy Carrot Soup

Ingredients:

1 tbs. coconut oil

1 sm. onion chopped

1 med. leek or 2 small ones, white and light green only, chopped

1 inch piece of fresh ginger, sliced

3 ¾ cups sliced carrots

1 fresh cayenne pepper

Dash of Bragg’s

1 tsp. coriander

½ tsp. cumin

3 cups vegetable stock

1 tsp. honey

Directions:

· In a soup pot, heat the oil. Add the onion, leeks, carrots, ginger, cayenne pepper and cook over medium heat until the onions start to sweat. Add the Bragg’s.

· Add the spices and stir.

· Add the vegetable stock and bring up to a boil. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes and the carrots are soft.

· Add the honey.

· Allow to cool slightly, and whirl the soup in a blender. Return to the stove and heat back up. For cleansers, serve with a garnish of parsley and/or pumpkin or sunflower seeds.