Carrot Soup

This was a surprise hit in my continuing effort to make vegetables interesting to the Man of the House (it's not that he doesn't eat them, he just usually doesn't like them as he eats them).  We had some carrots dying of old age in the fridge because Jim doesn't like to cook them, so I decided to make soup.

Sweet Carrot Soup
makes about 3 cups
6-8 small/medium carrots, peeled and chopped into 2-in pieces, or about a half pound of "baby carrots"
1 cup Trader Joe's Organic Tomato Smoked Red Pepper Soup (if you don't have that, you can use 1/2 cup purreed tomatoes, 1/2 cup purreed pumpkin, or 1/2 cup of cream and 1/4 cup water or chicken broth--it won't taste the same, but it will be yummy!)
1/2 cup sweet white wine (I used Dr. Beckermann "Liebfraumilch"-which means "Mother's Milk" from good ole Trader Joes.  If your wine isn't really sweet, add more maple syrup).
1/2-2/3 cup milk, half and half, or heavy cream
2 Tablespoons Maple Syrup
1/2-1 T powdered ginger
1 T ground cinnamon
1/2 or less teaspoon salt
2T Greek Yogurt or Sour Cream (optional)


Steam the carrots in a little water 15-20 minutes or until soft.  Put the carrots, any remaining steaming liquid, and all ingredients except yogurt or sour cream into a blender and blend until smooth.  Pour into a saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly, until heated through.   Stir in yogurt or sour cream, or add to each serving as pictured.  The soup is really rich, so I serve it in small ramekins of no more than 1/2 cup at a time.