Soup à la Bella

Here’s a recipe where a little culinary ad-libbing met the needs of a caregiver.

My husband, Gregg, was under the weather, but he was hungry. So I went to the kitchen to see what I could rustle up. Bella, our Portuguese water dog, trotted after me.

There wasn’t much in the fridge. A few carrots and some fennel. That’s good for the belly. Gregg liked my carrot ginger soup. Would carrot fennel soup work?

I went to the fruit compartment for lemons, but found only an orange. It all went into the pot. All except one carrot. That was Bella’s reward for waiting patiently.

A while later I set some soup in front of Gregg. He took one taste and said, “I feel better already!” A few weeks and tweaks later, I had the recipe down.

P.S. I named this recipe after Bella since she’s probably the only dog who prefers carrots to bacon. For every four carrots that go into the soup, one goes into Bella’s mouth. Otherwise, she howls.

Bella's Carrot, Orange and Fennel Soup
IngredientsSoup:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup yellow onions, chopped

1 cup fennel, chopped

1 1/8 teaspoon sea salt, divided

3 pounds carrots washed and cut into 1-inch pieces

¼    teaspoon ground cumin

1/8    teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8    teaspoon ground allspice

1    pinch red pepper flakes

1½    teaspoons orange zest

8    cups stock or water

¼    teaspoon maple syrup

1    tablespoon orange juice, freshly squeezed

2    teaspoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed

Cashew Cream:

1 cup raw cashews

1 cup water

2  teaspoons fresh lemon juice

¼  teaspoon sea salt

Pinch fresh nutmeg, grated
PreparationSoup:

1. In an eight-quart pot, heat oil over medium. Add onion and fennel with pinch of salt; sauté until golden.

2. Add carrots, cumin, cinnamon, allspice, red pepper, orange zest and ¼ teaspoon salt. Stir.