It’s been quite a week.  We have gone from humid 90’s and thunderstorms to my idea of perfection:  70’s and breezy with virtually no humidity.  We were able to plant over 1200 tomatoes, set up irrigation systems, mow 3 acres, harvest beautiful fresh spinach for market, then I decided it was time to compost the lettuce that had finally gone to seed in one of our hoop houses.  This particular hoop house was our experiment from last fall.  We wanted to lengthen our season and had planted lettuces, Swiss chard, spinach and herbs.  The 90 degree temperatures had pretty much done them in, although they had flourished from last September until late May.  It was time to clean it out and let it go dormant until mid August, when we would plant again for fall and early winter.

I gathered wheel barrow and spade, venturing into the 100 degree structure to start pulling out parsley, chard and lettuce; the chickens would love these offerings.  I had taken note of what appeared to be over grown carrot tops in the back of one of the raised beds.  As I bent down to pull some of them out, what had seemed over grown was full of beautiful mature carrots.  I went outside and washed them off.  I tried one and was shocked by its sweetness.  I filled a bowl with water, removed the tops and dropped them in.  Going back in I continued to pull handful after handful of gorgeous carrots.  How in the world had we missed these, I thought munching on another one?  When we had checked them last would have been in late March, when we were disappointed that they hadn’t matured.  We had planted later than recommended and thought they had been a failure.  Yet here they were growing and maturing at their own speed, in their own time.  The more I pulled, the more delighted I became.  In the end there were enough to share with three of our neighbors who loved carrots as much as we do.  I decided to turn these beauties into a cold carrot soup to celebrate this unseen treasure.

Curried Carrot Soup

• 3 Tbsp sweet butter
• 1 cup sweet onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 tsp curry powder
• Kosher salt & fresh ground black pepper to taste
• 3 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 2 lbs carrots, cut into 1-inch chunks
• 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
• Low fat sour cream

1. Melt butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat.  Saute the onion, curry powder, salt & pepper until onion is soft and translucent; about 5 minutes.
2. Add the broth, carrots and 3 cups water.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer until carrots are tender; about 20 minutes.
3. Puree the soup in batches in a blender.  Transfer to clean saucepan or container if making a cold soup (which I recommend).  Add more water to thin to desired consistency.  Reheat if necessary or chill for at least 4 hours.  Stir in lemon juice.
4. Serve with a dollop of sour cream.  Garnish with cilantro.

Serves 4