Perfect for a chilly fall or winter day, this colorful, richly flavored soup is delectable and good for you from the inside out. Whether you’re looking for a new carrot recipes or pumpkin recipes, this soup combines the two, but with a twist. It uses carrot juice instead of whole carrots.
Carrot benefits
As an orange vegetable, carrots are jam packed with phytonutrients including alpha and beta carotene, and one that’s likely new to most people, falcarinol. Falcarinol is a potent anti-cancer compound. You’ll find it in higher amounts in raw carrots, or fresh carrot juice.
Most know about the benefits of carrot nutrition when it comes to vitamin A. Some of the carotenes are converted into vitamin A but it’s still best to include some food sources of preformed vitamin A (retinol) such as eggs, milk, liver, fish etc.
What’s interesting, is the fact that carotenes from food are absorbed up to 10x better when foods are cooked and eaten with fat. This carrot soup hits the mark as a cooked food that includes oil.
Pumpkin nutrition
Pumpkin soup is a fall classic, as is carrot soup. This recipe has you covered on both fronts! Pumpkin, like other dark orange vegetables, as well as, dark green vegetables is chalk up of alpha and beta carotene. Not to be out done is fellow carotenoid beta-cryptoxanthin.
Pumpkin is also loaded with potassium. It’s not just all about bananas. Pumpkin benefits include fiber, vitamins B2, C and E and the minerals copper and manganese.
Carrot juice and pumpkin puree pair well with the onion, garlic, thyme and bay leaf to give you a warming, delicious and nutritious soup.
This soup helps to maintain a healthy blood pressure, supports bone health and has B vitamins to support energy production. One of the many amazing recipes from my book 175 Best Superfood Blender Recipes Using Your NutriBullet
Roasted Pumpkin and Carrot Juice Soup
Ingredients
- Extra Tall Cup
- 3 tbsp pumpkin oil divided 45 mL
- 1/2 onion sliced 1/2
- 1 clove garlic sliced 1
- 1 thyme sprig 1
- 1 bay leaf 1
- 3 cups carrot juice 750 mL
- 1-3/4 cups pureed pumpkin see tip, at left 425 mL
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp pepitas pumpkin seeds, toasted 30 mL
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro 30 mL
Instructions
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In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, add 1 tbsp (15 mL) oil and heat until shimmering. Add onions and cook, stirring frequently, 7 minutes or until onions are lightly browned. Add garlic and cook, stirring, 1 minute or until garlic is fragrant. Add thyme spring, bay leaf, carrot juice and pumpkin, stirring. Add water to cover ingredients completely, if necessary. Cook, stirring occasionally, until boiling. Let cool. Remove thyme sprig and bay leaf and discard.
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Add pumpkin mixture and 1 tbsp (15 mL) oil to the extra tall cup, working in batches if necessary. Twist the extractor blade onto the cup to seal. Turn the cup upside down and press and turn cup into the power base for 40 seconds, or until smooth.
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Remove the cup from the power base and twist off the extractor blade. Pour soup into a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, and cook 5 minutes or heated through. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon into serving bowls and drizzle with remaining olive oil. Garnish with pepitas and cilantro.
Recipe Notes
TIPS:
- A 2-1/2 lb (1.25 g) pie pumpkin will yield enough pumpkin for this recipe.
- Pureed pumpkin: Preheat oven to 350° F (180° C). Cut 1 pie pumpkin in half and remove the seeds. Place upside down on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until pumpkin is soft when pressed and caramelized juices are beginning to appear. Let cool. Scoop out pumpkin and drain in a fine mesh sieve. Add to the fill line of the extra tall cup. Blend for 30 seconds or until smooth. Repeat with remaining pumpkin. Measure pumpkin into 1 cup (250 mL) batches and store in individual containers in the refrigerator for up to 7 days or frozen for up to 3 months.
- To toast pepitas, add them to a small sauté pan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring, 2 to 3 minutes or until fragrant and lightly browned.
175 Best Superfood Blender Recipes Using Your NutriBullet will be available in Chapters and Indigo in Canada, and Barnes & Noble in the US. Of course you can also order it on Amazon.ca or Amazon.com today!!
Doug Cook RDN is a Toronto based integrative and functional nutritionist and dietitian with a focus on digestive, gut, and mental health. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.