Roasted Carrot Dill Soup

Okay New England, you've broken the all time snowfall record. Now can it PLEASE be spring already? 

I have decided to start cooking brightly colored food to make me feel like it's spring weather even though mother nature tells me otherwise. The color of this carrot soup is so beautifully orange that it makes me happy just looking at it.

The soup gets its beautiful pastel orange color from the amazing carrots I found at Wegman's. Look at these babies- aren't they gorgeous? They're also extremely yummy- raw, roasted, steamed- you name it.

Even though this is a springy looking soup, it is sure to warm you up while its still bitterly cold outside. I used dill as the herb in this dish, as I love the brightness it gives the soup. If you're not a dill fan you can easily substitute your herb of choice.

Carrots are a superfood for so many reasons! They provide a lot of Vitamin A which is an essential vitamin to maintain good eyesight. Vitamin A also helps keep skin healthy by protecting against the sun's harmful rays. Carrots also contain antioxidants which have been said to prevent the body from getting certain cancers. Lastly, carrots contain beta-carotene which is known to help prevent strokes.

Ingredients:

10 medium-sized carrots

1 small onion-diced

1/2 cup dill-chopped

4 cups low-sodium chicken stock

2 tbsp. olive oil 

salt/pepper to taste

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2) Peel carrots and place them on a baking sheet.

3) Coat carrots in 1 tbsp. olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

4) Roast for 20 minutes.

5) While the carrots are roasting, heat olive oil in a dutch oven over medium high heat. Cook the onions for 5-8 minutes or until tender.

6) Add half of the chicken stock (2 cups) to the onions and bring to a gentle simmer.

7) When carrots are done roasting add them to the onion/broth mixture.

8) Place the lid on the dutch oven and let carrots cook with onions for an additional 10 minutes or medium low heat.

10) Pour mixture into blender with the dill and blend until smooth.

11) Add the blended mixture back into the dutch oven. Pour the remaining 2 cups of chicken stock into the dutch oven and bring to a gentle boil.

12) Simmer soup for an additional 10 minutes.Taste for seasoning and add more salt/pepper if desired.

Enjoy!

*Soup makes about 4 servings