“…her young hostages Miklaz and Kezmya were laying out a simple supper of autumn greens and ginger soup for her…” (Dance with Dragons)
Autumn Greens and Ginger Soup
Our Thoughts:
This is a wonderful pairing of dishes for late autumn, or unseasonably warm winter days. Light enough to satisfy a between holidays diet, yet with enough oomph to see you through to the next meal. The small amount of ginger in the salad dressing compliments the heavier ginger in the soup, while the fig flavors in both dressing and on the salad lend the dish an exotic flair.
The soup pairs exceptionally well with some crusty bread and sharp cheese.
Make it at Home
Salad Ingredients:
- 8 cups mixed greens, such as arugula, dandelion, frisee, red oak lettuce, swiss chard, etc.
- 6-8 figs
- 1 cup roasted nuts of your choice (we like candied walnuts)
Plum vinaigrette:
- 5 Tbs. plum preserves
- 1/4 cup wine vinegar
- 1 Tbs. Dijon-style mustard
- 1 cup olive oil
- 1 tsp. grated ginger
- 1 Tbs. minced lemongrass
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 onions, peeled and chopped
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 2 pounds carrots, peeled and sliced
- 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
- 1 cup whipping cream
- Salt and pepper
To make the soup: In a 6-quart pan, over medium high heat, add butter and onions and cook, stirring often, until onions are limp. Add broth, carrots, and ginger. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until carrots are tender when pierced.
Remove from heat and transfer to a blender. Don’t fill the blender more than half way, do it in batches if you have to. Put the lid on, and cover the top with a dish towel. Be careful when blending hot liquids as the mixture can spray out of the top if the lid isn’t properly affixed. Pulse the blender to start it and then puree until smooth.
Return to the pan, add cream, and stir over high heat until the soup is uniformly hot. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Ladle into bowls and garnish with parsley sprigs.
Ginger soup sounds delectable – I’ve had ginger-spiced soup, but never with ginger as the main ingredient. Intriguing! It must be quite fragrant.
I would definitely rename the soup to Carrot-Ginger Soup because I think the sweetness of the carrots needs to be there to balance the heat of the ginger and should be acknowledged. I often make creamy vegetable soups which are pureed to give them a velvety texture but haven’t ever used carrots so this is something I would add to my repertoire.
The Ginger Soup is delicious but needs more ginger.
Noted!
This looked so good, and it’s been freezing here, so I had to make it! I have a carrot-dill soup that I make a lot, so I used some of that method instead but kept the ingredients the same. I pre-simmered the carrots for 5 minutes until just tender, while cooking the onions. Then over a very low heat simmered the whole the thing for about 20-25 minutes (covered, slightly vented) before pureeing. I added a little more ginger and a hint of cayenne, used a little less cream. The results were lovely. It paired nicely with roast chicken, and a dandelion green salad with garlic confit dressing. Cheers all around the table! Thanks so much for this!!!
The soup was a big hit alongside my Pentoshi Honey chicken w/orange snap peppers.
For anyone who might be wondering, this soup freezes like a champ and is maybe even better after a couple months on ice!
The fig is said to be in both salad and dressing, but in the ingredients list there isn’t any fig, so, what is it ? Dried fig sould be somewhere in the dressing ? Or fresh ones ? Or fig preserve ? Thanks :)