Carrot-Ginger Soup

Most vegetable soups are thin and clean. I wanted to add some texture to this so I added rice to the carrot-ginger batch before puréeing it in the blender. The final result felt like oatmeal in my mouth and a flavorful soup that was heartier than usual.

Ingredients:
2 large carrots, peeled, chopped in large chunks
1 small- to medium-sized ginger, peeled, chopped
1/4 cup of rice
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 red onion, roughly chopped
6 sprigs of thyme
a handful of parsley, roughly chopped
3 bay leaves
oil, salt, pepper

1. In a stockpot, heat some olive oil over medium heat. Sauté garlic until slightly brown. Add onions and cook until soft, but do not brown. Add ginger, parsley, thyme and bay leaves and cook until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes.
2. Add carrots, rice and 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until carrots are exceedingly tender, about 30 minutes. Stir occasionally to help cook the rice. Turn off heat and set aside to cool.
3. When cool, remove bay and discard bay leaves. Purée soup in blender in batches. Season with salt and pepper.

Related post/s:
The ginger-garlic paste I made and stored is proving to be very useful
Asparagus soup recipe