The first time I went to meet my now mother-in-law, she made Trevor and me carrot & coriander soup. It was Springtime at Easter and she grew coriander in her garden. I thought coriander was just the British word for what I would call cilantro. But, there’s actually more to it.

So, what is coriander? It’s the dried seed of the cilantro plant. Even though coriander and cilantro leaves come from the same plant, they taste very different. Coriander seed tastes more like cumin or even cinnamon while the cilantro leaves can taste similar to parsley.

In this simple soup, both the seed (in a ground up version) and the leaves are used for the most warming, tasty soup. It’s bursting with flavor, but if you’re one of those people who don’t like cilantro, you definitely will not like this soup. Lucky for me, I love it, so it made my belly happy!

Carrot & Coriander Soup

• Servings: 4
• Time: 25 minutes
• Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander (or a mix of cumin and cinnamon)
• 1 potato or 1 cup celery, chopped
• 1 pound carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 1/2 pints vegetable stock
• 1 handful cilantro or parsley

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large large pan over medium heat, and add chopped onion. Fry the onion for 5 minutes, or until softened.
2. Stir in ground coriander and potato or celery, then cook for 1 minute.
3. Add the carrots and stock, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, or until the carrots are tender.
4. Once carrots are tender, pour soup into a food processor and blitz until smooth (you can also use an immersion blender in the soup pot itself if you have one). Taste, and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Top with cilantro (or parsley) and enjoy! 

Adapted from: bbcgoodfood.com