Winter Carrot-Apple Soup

Ingredients: medium-large carrots, fuji apple, garlic, vegetable stock, nutmeg, allspice, kosher salt, black pepper

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Allspice is possibly my favorite dry spice for the fall/winter season; it makes everything more earthy, fragrant, and savory all at the same time. I wish I came up with this allspice/soup pairing all on my own, but I was browsing epicurious.com for a different rendition of a carrot soup and stumbled upon this one.

I altered it slightly (omitted the apple juice concentrate and fresh mint, added garlic) and was pretty happy with it. The soup is incredibly filling and hearty and perfect if you're nursing a cold. The carrot and apple pairing makes the soup nice and thick, with a subtle hint of sweetness that balances perfectly with the nutmeg and allspice. Using the organic fresh produce definitely helped add to the sweetness, texture, and color of the soup; for some reason, non-organic carrots render dark yellow and watery soups for me - not sure if anyone else has had this problem.

It's served best with some raw apples and carrots which help add texture and crunch to the soup; also good topped with freshly grated parmesan or some garlic croutons.