Creamy Carrot Soup with Coconut, Cardamom, and Cashews

I used to think cold soups were gross, but looking over the posts of the past month, I must have come around in a big way.  I made this tongue-twister of a soup to go with that Grilled Eggplant and Mango Noodle Salad.  Richly creamy (coconut milk AND cashews!), yet not overly heavy, and brightened up slightly by ginger, this dish was a great complement to the much more acidic noodle salad.

Pureed soups are creamy anyway, like this carrot ginger soup I made last year.  Adding both coconut milk and cashews seemed extravagant, but it's really not too much of either, especially considering how large of a batch this recipe makes.  Simple and delicious, I will definitely be making this soup again (misplaced modifiers be damned).

As we were sitting down to eat this soup, I realized how pretty it would look garnished with additional coconut milk!  But alas, none remained.

Creamy Carrot Soup with Coconut, Cardamom, and Cashews

(from vegalicious)

Ingredients

2 TB olive oil

1 onion, diced

10 carrots, diced

3 garlic cloves, diced

1 TB fresh ginger, minced

1 tsp ground cardamom

1/4 tsp cayenne

4 c of vegetable stock

1 c coconut milk

1 c cashews

salt and pepper

Instructions

1. In a medium to large sauce pan, heat the olive oil over medium high heat and add the onion and carrots.  Cook about 10 minutes.
2. Add garlic, ginger, cardamom, and cayenne.  Cook a few minutes more.
3. Add stock and cashews, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes, or until the carrots are very soft.
4. Turn off heat and allow soup to cool, then puree, adding coconut milk, until very smooth.
5. Season to taste with salt and more cayenne, keeping in mind that the stock already had salt in it.  Serve hot or chilled, garnished with additional coconut milk, minced scallions, a few cashews, etc.  Serves 4-6.