Minted Coconut Beet Soup
You guys have been wanting a recipe, haven't you? C'mon, even a little?
I've been promising this recipe to my friend Ingrid for about a month, now. She graciously gave me some delicious beets from her garden, so I immediately set about finding a creative combination of flavours for my soup cookbook. And, I figured I would share it with not only her, but all of you. (I know you've been missing my recipes--you can admit it.)
Minted Coconut Beet Soup
Makes about 10 cups
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp. butter (raw organic is best)
2 lg. yellow onions, diced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 tsp. ground ginger (or 4" piece fresh, peeled and minced)
3 c. homemade chicken stock
2 14-oz. cans coconut milk (or equivalent volume fresh)
6 lg. beets, peeled and diced into about 1-sq. cm. pieces
juice from one lime (about 2 tbsp.)
2 tsp. celtic sea salt
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. dried mint (or 2 tbsp. fresh, snipped)
crème fraiche for serving
- Heat olive oil and butter together gently in a large pot. Sauté onions on med-low heat until soft.
- Add minced garlic. Turn up heat to medium and sauté for another minute or so. Add ginger.
- Add chicken stock, coconut milk, beets, lime juice, salt, and cumin (and mint, if using dried) and and bring to a gentle boil. Turn heat back down to medium-low and cook until beets are tender, about twenty minutes or so.
- Remove from heat and blend in pot with hand-held blender (or run through a blender in batches, then return to pot.) Add mint now, if using fresh. Serve immediately with a dollop of crème fraiche. (Fresh mint may also be used as garnish.)
Variation: Fresh cilantro may be used in place of mint.
Tip: Crushing garlic cloves with the flat of a large knife makes peeling them a cinch--and releases more of the flavourful juices.
Enjoy!