A month or so ago, I entered a contest at ChicGalleria.com to win the Great Taste, No Pain series by Sherry Brescia. I won!

I am always on the lookout for tasty recipes and ideas to contribute to our healthy eating and I was excited to learn that I won these books.

Today, I made the Carrot and Cilantro Soup. The list of ingredients held two that I adore: cilantro and coriander. I LOVED it! David was less enthusiastic but he’s really a meat and potatoes kind of guy and the potatoes are blended (therefore hidden!) and there is no meat. The soup was so good I wanted to suck it through a straw. 🙂

Here’s the recipe:

Carrot and Cilantro Soup

2 tbs olive oil
2 tbs butter or Earth Balance
1 large Vidalia onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, sliced
2 medium potatoes, chopped
2 pounds carrots, cut into 1 1/2″ chunks
6 cups vegetable broth (I used homemade)
3 tsp ground coriander
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (or 1 tbs dried)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat oil and butter in a Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat. Saute’ onion for 3-4 minutes until slightly softened. Add celery and potatoes to the onion in the pan, cook for a few minutes and then add the carrots. Saute’ for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently. Cover, reduce heat to low and “sweat” vegetables for 10 minutes. Gently shake the pan or stir occaisionally so the vegetables do not stick to the bottom.

Add the broth, bring to a boil and then cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until the carrots and ptoatoes are tender. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

Process the soup in batches in a food processor or blender until smooth. Return soup to pan, stir in coriander, cilantro and salt and pepper to taste. Reheat over low heat and serve immediately.

YUM! This was terrific. I will definitely make it again and hopefully David is out of town so I can have it all for myself. 😉