Our veggie garden seems to expand every year.  This year we planted more carrots than usual, including some different and unusual varieties.  They grew well and we had a surplus of beautiful carrots from the garden.  Soup is one of my favorite things to prepare, including in the summer.  With the surplus of carrots, a simple summer carrot soup was an easy choice.  It's very simple to prepare and turns out wonderfully rich and creamy (without any dairy).  The vegetarian version uses vegetable stock (it's vegan too).  Or you can using chicken stock for a non-vegetarian version. 

Ingredients: 

2 lbs of garden fresh carrots

1/2 medium sweet onion

1 tsp minced fresh ginger root

1 clove minced garlic

1 quart vegetable or chicken stock

1/2 tsp cider vinegar

Preparation:

Cut the carrots into medium pieces, about 1/2 inch wide and 1 inch long.  Dice the onion.  Heat saucepan over medium flame.  Add two or three tablespoons of olive oil (not evoo) and let the oil come to temp.  Add the carrots and saute for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add a couple of pinches of salt.  Add the onion and stir to mix.  Continue cooking for another 5 minutes or so, until the onions cook through, adding the ginger and garlic after about 2 minutes.   Add the stock and bring the heat to high until the liquid boils, then reduce the heat to medium.  After about 5 minutes, taste a carrot to check tenderness and continue cooking only until the carrots have softened.  You want the carrots to move past al dente, but not get to the point of mushiness.   When the carrots are done, pour the contents of the saucepan into a blender, working in batches if you need to.  Process on high until the mixture is smooth and creamy.  In the Vitamix, this takes about 2 minutes.  If it's too thick add a little more stock.  Add the vinegar and then season with sea salt and a few grinds of fresh pepper.  Note: I add ja touch of vinegar to nearly every soup I make.  It brightens the flavors beautifully and you can really notice the difference.  That's it.  You're done.  Couldn't be much simpler.  You can serve the soup at any temp you want, from cool to hot.  I'd avoid serving it cold right out of the fridge because the cold mutes the subtle flavors of the earthy carrots.  If you want to fancy it up, garnish with chive and a swirl of evoo.  Enjoy!