Roasted carrot, ginger and beet soup.

Who doesn’t love a warm mug of soup on a cold winter day? Trying to mix up my standard soup rut, plus use up some ingredients I already had, led me to this delicious, immune-boosting, skin-glowing recipe. It’s hardly even a recipe, more an ingredient list. And aside from chopping and blending, is mostly hands off as the oven does all of the work.

Ingredients:

8 carrots, washed (mine were organic so I didn’t peel them)

3 beets, peeled

2 cloves of garlic

1 onion

1 knob of ginger (mine was about 2”)

Handful of cashews*

Squeeze of lemon

Olive oil (for roasting)

Salt, to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Coarsely chop all ingredients and place on baking sheet. Toss with olive oil and salt, then bake for about an hour, stirring occasionally, until veggies have softened. Remove from oven, allow to cool, then blend with cashews, lemon juice, and filtered water until you achieve desired consistency. I popped it back in the microwave to warm it up before drinking.

Carrots and beets: high in beta-carotene (antioxidant, gives skin glow), potassium (skin cell hydration, supports collagen production), and folate (skin cell growth and repair).

Skin benefits of cashews: copper & magnesium (aids in collagen production), zinc (anti-inflammatory), vitamin E (antioxidant, protects against free-radical damage).

Lemon: vitamin C (antioxidant, aids in collagen production).

*I used raw, unsalted cashews. Roasted and salted would work too, just adjust amount of salt you add to the recipe.