Recipe: Spiced Carrot Soup

Who doesn't love a bowl of soup on a cold winter day? This week, I had an influx of carrots, courtesy of my grandfather who was gifted a barrel of them over the holidays.

Sticking with my "eat better" resolution, this recipe guarantees a creamy base, without the cream. It nets out around 240 calories a bowl, making it a healthy option when you're craving something warm. Plus, the carrots smell SO GOOD when they are roasting!

Ingredients:

-5 large carrots -3-4 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil, divided -Sea Salt, to taste -1 yellow onion, chopped -2 cloves of garlic, minced (or 3, if you love garlic!) -1/2 teaspoon of curry powder -1/4 teaspoon cumin -1/2 teaspoon onion powder -4 cups water -2 cups vegetable broth (or chicken, if you don't have vegetable...tastes just as good) -2 tablespoons salted butter -1 teaspoon of lemon juice -Ground pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and prepare a baking pan.

2. Peel and chop carrots into 1/2 inch rounds

3. Place carrots on baking sheet in a single layer and drizzle with olive oil (about 2 tablespoons) and sprinkle sea salt on top.

4. Roast carrots approx. 40 min in oven.

5. When carrots are done roasting, in a stock pot, add remaining olive oil and cook onions and garlic until soft, about 5 minutes.

6. Add the cumin, curry powder and onion powder and cook about 1 minute until fragrant. Pour in vegetable broth and water and stir.

7. Add the roasted carrots to the pot and simmer, approx. 10 minutes.

8. Remove pot from heat, let cool slightly, and add butter, lemon juice and salt.

9. Using an immersion blender (or regular blender), blend soup until smooth.

10. Top with parsley, and ground pepper to taste.