Carrot Ginger Soup + Fall Feelings
The temperatures have dropped in Austin. I was on the phone with my sister Annie (Yeah, we are Dani & Annie cool cool cool), when I realized it was 67 degrees outside- WHAT?! I immediately sprinted outside with my coffee. When I moved to Texas, everyone seemed to comment on the impending doom of my new hot, hot summers in the south. I feel like that’s the give part of the give & take of living here in Austin. I find the other 3 seasons to be so magical that I’ll deal with a few months of humid heat (with some light complaining along the way).
Fall has to be my absolute favorite— we never had falls in San Diego! You put a sweater on in the morning & you’re sweating by noon, so no thanks to that. Here we get to watch the leaves turn across all the sprawling trees. We get to have chilly morning fires outside with our coffee. We get to enjoy warm sun coupled with swift breezes, and these might sound like tiny things— maybe they are, but I’m feeling the daily magic of the “ordinary” every day here, more and more, it seems. I used to be terrified of the “ordinary”— and no, we ain’t talkin’ skincare, hehe. “Ordinary” meant, well, lame. Less-than. Dull. Lackluster. If I desired something simple, that meant something was inherently wrong with me, somehow. How deeply, incredibly wrong of me. I moved here at a time in my life when I needed to simplify. I needed certain things to fall away. It was almost an unconscious becoming of sorts. Only in hindsight can I actually see that I was dying for ordinary. I was dying for simple, everyday moments that felt full of meaning. I wasn’t looking, but I found just that, and now, it’s like I can’t turn a blind eye to everyday moments of magic. Also, I’m in love with someone who sees the magic in everything naturally, even when I don’t, so that’s a helpful tip.
We planted our fall crops this weekend, as per mention on my Instagram, and even that was a little slice of magic. Here we are, seasons turning, and we get to reap more from this tiny, yet somehow huge to us, garden of ours. On the crop dockett we have:
German Butterball Potatoes— seriously creamiest most amazing potatoes I’ve ever had
Rattlesnake + Purple Pole Beans— like green beans, but in a hot outfit
Black Beans— That’s right! I’m trying my hand at growing + drying my own black beans. TBD on that.
Serrano Peppers
Banana Peppers
Rainbow Carnival Peppers
Rainbow Beets
Delicata Squash
Cucumbers
Green Onions
Gladstone Bulb Onions
Rainbow Carrots
Cossack Pineapple Cherries— My one weirdo/non everyday crop pick! They’re really beautiful & can apparently go sweet or savory. Would make really delicious salsa, apparently. Grows akin to a tomatillo in a pretty little husk.
Dill— The caterpillars got to mine last season, & I need all I can get for pickles.
Parsley + Cilantro
Basil
Tons of zinnias— If you’re looking for an easy/very satisfying flower to grow from seed, go for zinnias! A) They’re gorgeous B) They’re good for the impatient gardener, hi, I’m Dani, and my zinnia sprouts popped out in 2 days. C) They’re cut & come again—and they grow fast!
All gardening guts spilled, aside, I SO wish that last season’s carrots would have been abundant enough to make multiple batches of this creamy carrot-ginger soup from my book , but alas, they were a motley (delicious) crew. I planted way too many seeds close together, resulting in an intertwined, scraggly, muppett-y little bunch. Like I said, delicious nonetheless, but I think we got all of 2 dinners out of those.
Back to the soup at hand. This is a good one. It’s creamy, full of aromatics, and so quick. Carrots get caramelized along with leeks, garlic, ginger, and a touch of miso paste, before everything gets de-glazed with white wine, before getting simmered in a combo of vegetable stock and cream. Then, it all gets blended into a state of velvety goodness. Here, I served it with some steamed white rice with some scallions and cilantro thrown in. I also whipped up a little cilantro garlic cream by blending 1/2 cup heavy cream with 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, and 1 minced garlic clove, plus some s+p, duh. Grilled cheeses not mandatory, but very welcome, indeed. This is a perfect answer to a tomato soup craving when maybe, you don’t feel like slow-roasting a bunch of tomatoes. Make a double batch, and freeze for chilly nights when you’ve had a long day where you just want to chillllllllllllll.
Speaking of cozy…What is everyone doing to get ready for Autumn? I’ll be totally honest- I’ve never been super into fall decor I find most of it in the past slightly classroom-y? I don’t know why! Well, I probably do- it’s because I never really thought outside the box in that area. That changes now! We have my parents coming to see us v soon (All proper precautions have been taken by all parties :), and part of me really wants to fall up our house before they get here. TBD on that because TBH, my whole house needs a maj deep clean. Let’s talk about 6 months straight— actually OVER 6 months straight because I was MEGA-sick Jan-early Feb— of not only just being home, but our home getting heavily USED, y’all. Lovingly and purposefully used but, dang. The amount of recipe testing/new kitten situations (haha and ew and I’m still lightly traumatized but will spare you all the deets, ‘cause I like ya)/gardening projects/DIY’s that we’ve seen these last 6+ months makes me feel like a whole year has gone by…my baseboards were just saying the same thing!
All this is to say I’m really stoked for some more projects this weekend making our guest room aka my studio guest-ier, planning meals for when my parents are here, and yeah, a whole lot of cleaning and sprucing. I’m very into it, but honestly, I don’t think I would be as into it if I weren’t with someone who took my ideas and ran with them. I mention a desk? He comes back with a color-blocked desk. I say I want to clean? Boom- he organizes our closets. Dirty pan? I’ve never seen someone enjoy Bar Keeper’s Friend more, haha! These aren’t brags…Okay, they are, but truly, get yourself a part-nah who makes your ideas better. It’s a two-way street, you know you’re making their ideas better too.
For more recipes like this one, order my new cookbook, The 30-Minute Pescatarian Cookbook, out now!
