Carrot & Coriander (Cilantro) Soup

I love soup and Carrot & Corriander has always been one of my favourites. I found a recipe on the back of a pack of corriander (cilantro) and added a few bits so it would suit my taste. It's easy and quick to make, creamy and full of flavour. Perfect for lunch or as a light dinner served with crusty bread or a sandwhich. The original recipe had 1/2 cup of double cream listed, but I wanted to keep the calories down so I changed it to 1/3 cup of milk, but if you want it even creamier use the cream. The recipe can be easily doubled.

• Ready In: 35 mins
• Serves: 2-3

Ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons butter or 1 1⁄2 tablespoons  vegetable oil
• 4  carrots, peeled and cubed
• 1  medium potato, peeled and cubed
• 2 1⁄2-3  cups  chicken stock, good quality preferably homemade
• 1⁄2 inch gingerroot, grated
• 1  teaspoon ground coriander
• 2  garlic cloves, minced
•  salt, to taste
•  pepper, to taste
• 1⁄4 cup  roughly chopped fresh coriander, including leaves and stems (cilantro)
• 1⁄3 cup milk

Directions

1. Heat the butter or oil in a heavy based pan.
2. Add the carrots and potatoes and saute over medium heat for 5-8 minutes.
3. Add 2 1/2 cups of stock, grated ginger, ground corriander, garlic as well as some salt and pepper to taste.
4. Bring to a boil and simmer until the vegetables are tender about 15 minutes depending on the size of your cubes.
5. Carefully pour the contents of your pan into a food blender (you can use a hand-held stick blender also), add corriander (cilantro) and the milk (or cream).
6. Blend until desired smoothness is achieved. If you find the soup to thick for your liking add more stock.
7. Return the soup to the pan and heat through.
8. Serve hot with your favourite bread.
9. It can also be made ahead and re-heated later or the next day.