Fall has finally really come to Portland… but it’s more like the kinds of fall I was used to living in the midwest. We’ve had light rain, but lots of sun! It’s very unfamiliar. Instead of all the beautiful leaves falling directly to the ground with the rain, they’re sticking around longer. Our gardens have had another month of life. I could get used to this.

Rain or shine, though, it’s nice to have it be soup weather again. I have a group of girls I meet with every couple of months (in soup season). We all make a batch of soup, freeze it in individual portions and trade them all.

This Coconut Carrot Miso Soup was my contribution for our last round of swapping. It’s vegan! And so, so delicious.

Sometimes it’s hard to make vegan and vegetarian soups seem hearty enough, if you’re a carnivore. In my opinion, that means you need more fat. And one of my favorite ways to add healthy fat is coconut! And a little miso certainly makes things even better.

I think this soup is at its best when it’s also got a swirl of olive oil and a dollop of pesto on top. Basil pesto would be great, but you can sub the carrot tops in for the basil to use all the parts of the food! It’s delicious.

Ingredients

• 15 large carrots, scrubbed clean, trimmed and cut in half lengthwise
• 1 onion, cut into 8 wedges
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 quart vegetable broth
• 1 can full fat coconut milk
• 1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tbsp. white miso
• 1 Tbsp. corn starch: optional

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Toss the carrots, onion and garlic in vegetable oil and roast until very pierced easily with a fork, about 20 minutes (they should be softer than if you were just going to eat them roasted).
2. Add everything from the tray, including any oil/juices left on the pan, into a stock pot or Dutch oven. Add the vegetable broth, and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
3. Being extremely careful of the hot soup, turn off the burner and blend using a blender or a stick blender until smooth. Add the coconut milk and use the blender to mix that in also. You may need to work in batches.
4. Add the soup back into the stock pot/Dutch oven and add the salt and grated ginger. Taste, and judge thickness.
5. If the soup needs to be thicker (I like a good, thick soup), ladle about a cup out to another bowl and whisk in the cornstarch until dissolved. Add the mixture back into the pot and bring to a boil for a full minute. You can repeat, if you’d like to thicken the soup further.