Just the other day I pulled out one on my largest and heaviest cook books. I realized that on the inside of the cover I had scribbled a soup recipe for a Carrot and Yam Soup. The recipe was given to me from my sister-in-law back in 1991 and it was my very first homemade soup that I cooked up. The recipe was long forgotten about for about 2 decades. It seems as though my soup making lifetime has been about 23 years to date. Wow – where does time go?!
Ohh, Carrot and Yam Soup – the soup I lost my soup virginity to. I was curious to find out if it was as great as I remembered it. So I decided to make the soup yesterday evening.
The Verdict of Carrot and Yam Soup? Very refreshing indeed. I adjusted a few ingredients from the original recipe a tad. I added freshly squeezed juices versus concentrates and focussed on more ginger and some tasty garnishes on top. I would make this soup again in future. It is even better than what I remembered it!
Carrot and Yam Soup Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoon olive oil (plus 1/4 cup for frying yam shavings for garnish)
- 1 cup onion, chopped
- 2- 1/2 cups yams, chopped (keep a small chunk for rough shaved yam pieces for garnish)
- 4 cups carrots, chopped
- 3 teaspoon ginger, finely chopped
- 4 cups low sodium vegetable stock
- 1 cup apple juice
- 1/3 cup fresh orange juice
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- pinch salt and pepper
- 1/4 cup of goat yogurt
- lemon zest from 1 lemon
- orange zest from 1 orange
Carrot and Yam Soup Instructions:
- Heat up olive oil in large pan. Saute onions on medium heat until soft for about 5 minutes.
- Add in yam, carrot and ginger and saute for 3 more minutes.
- Add in vegetable stock, apple juice, orange juice, lemon juice, coriander, allspice, nutmeg, salt and pepper.
- Bring to boil, lower heat and simmer for about 40 minutes (or when carrots are soft).
- While soup is simmering, heat up 1/4 cup of oil in small pan and fry approx 1/2 cup of rougly shaved yam pieces in batches. When golden brown reserve yam pieces on a paper towel.
- Puree soup with blender. Be careful with hot liquids. If using hand blender take soup off of heat first.
- Heat soup back up on low/medium.
- Ladle soup in bowls.
- Garnish each bowl with a dollop of goat yogurt, some fried yam pieces and sprinkle of orange/lemon zest.
What I changed from original recipe:
- used fresh lemon juice and fresh orange juice instead of concentrates, and more of both
- used more onions
- doubled the ginger
- used fried shaved yam pieces, lemon/orange zest, orange slice and goat yogurt as garnish
Soup Mistress Rating for Carrot and Yam Soup:
Healthy (+ slimming + low sodium): (4.5/5)
Presentation: (4/5) 
Taste: (4.15/5)