I mentioned in previous posts how much I love fennel and shared a bunch of recipes using them. So it probably doesn't surprise you that I bought a bunch. However, when I went to take them out of the fridge the other day to make some roasted fennel and fennel salad, I saw that almost all of my fennel froze in the back of the fridge. Big bummer. Because once a vegetable freezes you can't serve it fresh. I was able to salvage some of the fennel that didn't get fully frozen and it made perfect roasted fennel and you couldn't even tell that it had been frozen first. But for the fully frozen fennel? What could I do with that?
I thought about it a bit and decided to make a blended fennel soup. I've made blended fennel soup with potatoes before but I wasn't in the mood for fennel with potatoes, and then googling brought up this recipe for fennel and carrot soup. But it didn't use up nearly as much of the frozen fennel as I wanted, so I played around with it, made my modifications, and ended up with this delicious soup that is terrific both cold and hot. I honestly can't decide which way I prefer. It is similar to my chilled carrot soup with orange juice, but has that fennel bonus.
My daughter heard me talking aloud when I was writing this post and she said "Wait, there was fennel in that soup?" She does not like fennel (but isn't one of those that detest it with a passion and can smell it from a mile away) but still enjoyed this soup.
I love that I now have a go to recipe if I have fennel that freezes again in the fridge.
In addition to being a good way to use up food that otherwise would get tossed out (yay frugal cooking!), this recipe also suits so many different diets, from gluten free to paleo to vegan, and it's allergy friendly as well.
Definitely try this one out.
Citrus-Infused Carrot and Fennel Soup Recipe - Gluten Free, Vegan, Allergy Friendly
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 onions
- 6 cloves garlic
- 10-11 carrots
- 2-3 large fennel bulbs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 1/2 teaspoons coriander
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 1/2 liters (about 6.5 cups) boiling water
- 3/4 cup orange juice
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions:
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Chop the onions and garlic and sauté until soft.
- Chop the carrots and fennel. It doesn't matter how small since they're getting blended. Add the carrots, fennel, cumin, coriander, and salt to the pot. Stir to combine.
- Pour in the boiling water, then pressure cook for 30 minutes. If not using a pressure cooker, use a regular pot and boil until soft, adding any water to replace what evaporates.
- Blend the soup until smooth.
- Add orange juice and lemon juice.
- Heat it to serve hot, or refrigerate it to have a nice refreshing chilled soup.
Enjoy!