Potato and Carrot Top Soup

This fall my husband and I decided to start a small garden. We bought 2 small planter boxes and planted some lettuce, herbs, snap peas, and carrots. We picked a few of our carrots last week and they were very cute and little (we are still learning the gardening process). After I cleaned and cut off the carrots I had an entire counter full of the green carrot tops. 

As I sat looking at all these greens it seemed like a waste to just throw them away. I decided to do some research and see if they are even edible; it turns out they are! They are rich in nutrients and especially very high in potassium, which can make them taste a little bitter. When I added them into a potato soup it gave the creamy soup a nice flavor. Carrots at the store are also sold with the greens still on top, you can eat the carrots and then use the greens instead of just throwing them away. If you do not have carrot tops this soup can also be made with cilantro instead. 

In this post we are going to bust out a few fancy cooking terms for you. The first one is a French term, mise en place. All this means is to get all of your ingredients out and ready to go before you start cooking. If you have ever watched a cooking show and the chef has everything perfectly measured into individual bowls, that is mise en place. This is an important step in cooking because the last thing you want to do is be in the middle of cooking something and all the sudden you are digging through the cupboard looking for a spice, or a measuring cup, or having to chop up some veggies and your food burns. I don't have a million little bowls that I measure every teaspoon of spice into but I will get everything out that the recipe calls for and the appropriate measuring cups and do anything chopping or cutting up that I may need. This step will end up saving you time while cooking and will making preparing any dish easier. 

 To start, I diced half an onion, 2 stalks of celery, and minced 2 cloves of garlic. In a large pot I heated 1 Tablespoon of olive oil and then sauteed the onions and celery for about 2 minutes. Then I added the garlic and cooked it for another 2-3 minutes. 







Add in 6-8 medium potatoes that are washed, peeled and cubed. Stir them into the onion mix and cook for about 1-2 minutes. Then fill the pot with chicken stock just to cover the potatoes, about 3-4 cups. Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 15-20 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft. 








While the potatoes are cooking we need to prepare a roux (another fancy cooking term for you). Don't freak out though it's much simpler than it sounds. A roux is fat and flour mixed together. In this case butter and flour. Melt 3 Tablespoons of butter in a large pan then whisk in 1/4 cup of flour. A roux is a basic thickener used in a variety of soups and sauces. The key to a perfect roux is to always keep it moving. Keep whisking it for about 1-2 minutes; it will turn into a nice golden brown paste. 


Slowly pour in 1 cup of milk. Pouring the milk in with one hand and whisking with the other is a good way to do this. It keeps the sauce moving and will result in a creamy sauce instead of a lumpy one. Congratulations - You just made a béchamel sauce! Add in 1 teaspoon dried oregano and 1/4 - 1/2 cups chopped fresh carrot top (or cilantro). Bring the sauce to a boil and let it simmer until thickened, whisk it the entire time or it will get lumpy. 



Once the potatoes are done cooking and the sauce has thickened, pour the sauce into the potatoes and stir them together. At this point you can flavor the soup with a little salt and pepper if you like. To puree the potatoes you can either use an immersion blender (like I did), pour or ladle part of the soup into a blender and puree it that way, or gently smash the potatoes with a potato masher (like you would use when making mashed potatoes). How much you mash or puree the potatoes depends on how creamy or chunky you prefer your potato soup. 

 There you have it - a yummy bowl of warm creamy potato and carrot top soup!