carrot curry soup with lentils & herbs | tuulia talvio

Curried Carrot Soup w/ Lentil Herb Topping

This post is also available in: Suomi (Finnish)

carrot curry soup with lentils & herbs | tuulia talvio carrot curry soup with lentils & herbs | tuulia talvio

We’ve just returned home after a long weekend trip to the mountains in Austria. Even though our home is a bit messy, our windows are waiting to be cleaned and all our clothes need to be washed after all that hiking and biking, I was really happy to come home. I’ve always thought that one of the benefits of traveling is the fact that I start to miss home, my routines and making my own breakfast even though I’ve been sick of them just before the holiday. But maybe I’ve also started to do right things in my life as it nowadays feels nice to come back to that everyday life instead of being horrified of it, as it was some years ago.

Some of us love weekdays, routines and just that ‘normal’ life and then some of us pretty much hate it. When I start to feel bored in my own routines I try to come up with small things, that make me feel better. Like making overnight oats so that I don’t have to make breakfast on a busy morning, or seeing friends for workouts or just taking naps if feel tired. Just things that make me feel good. Easy and wholesome recipes and batch cooking work well too. Even though I love cooking, I’m not up to spending every night in the kitchen. So I rather cook something I can eat for couple of nights and then spend that extra time on watching my favorite series or reading or just hanging out with my boyfriend.

carrot curry soup with lentils & herbs | tuulia talvio

I really like soups as there are so many different flavors and they’re usually really easy to prepare. I always like to make a bigger portion, which makes life easier on the upcoming days. Soups are also really good for using all those forgotten vegetables from the fridge. In fact, this soup was the result of one those expeditions to our fridge. I found a bag of carrots, onions and some red curry paste, which turned out to make a really yummy soup with just the right amount of spiciness.

Soups are really good just as they are but usually I feel that they’re not filling enough. So to make it more of a meal, I usually have it with a sandwich or add different kinds of toppings to the soup. Nuts and seeds, broccoli, feta cheese, boiled eggs, lentils and herbs are my favorites and I like how they bring some texture to the soup whilst making it more filling as well.

Soup toppings, morning teas, pretty sheets and evening snacks feel like small things but in the end they’re actually just the things that make our lives either boring or really nice. So instead of being bored, we could create habits and routines and cook the kind of food that makes us feel good. And while we’re doing those things we’re creating an enjoyable life to ourselves. But let’s also remember that taking vacations and breaking those routines every now is pretty important as well :)

carrot curry soup with lentils & herbs | tuulia talvio

Curried Carrot Soup

serves 4 to 6

1 kg carrots
2 onions
2 garlic cloves
1/2 -1 tbsp red curry paste
1 (14 ounce / 400ml) can full-fat coconut milk (refrigerated overnight)

METHOD:

1. Peel and chop the carrots, onions and garlic. Cover with water, bring to a boil and let simmer on medium heat for about 15 to 20 minutes, until the carrots are soft.

2. Pour about half of the water away and then add the coconut milk and curry paste. You an blend the soup in a high speed blender or with a hand blender. Blend until smooth. Taste the soup and add spices if needed. Serve with the lentil herb topping and fresh herbs.

Lentil Herb Topping

adapted from Green Kitchen Stories

1 can cooked lentils
1/2 cup toasted pumpkin seeds / pepitas
1 tbsp olive oil
a handful of parsely or other fresh herbs
salt & black pepper

METHOD:

Drain and rinse the lentils carefully. Finely chop the herbs and then combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Add salt and black pepper and mix well. Enjoy right away or store in the fridge in an airtight container.

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  1. It looks so good and beautiful!