Carrot, Cumin and Ginger Detox Soup

I was in my pajamas and my carrots were old.

This is not the way I like to start any post admittedly but it's the brutal truth. It was a Sunday morning and it was cold. I was awoken by the loudspeaker from the Balmoral Burn charity run nearby and I wasn't in a great mood. And because I had woken so early I had an excess of time and my first instinct was to cook. I needed to make a soup for my husband's lunch that coming week and the carrots I had in the fridge were starting to look a little less appealing. They weren't awful but they lost that smooth bright orange coat that they had only a couple of days before.

A friend and I were discussing the inevitable Winter weight gain. Well lamenting it was more like it. Stews, pastas and roasts are de rigeur whereas salads and sorbets are out. One way to try and counteract it is with this soup which is very low in fat but full of flavour. Other benefits are of course that it can be made vegetarian and is very inexpensive to make so there's no reason not to try a bit of detoxing. If only for a meal or two.

Tell me Dear Reader, what are your tactics to avoid Winter weight gain or weight gain in general? Or do you surrender to Winter and come Summer take action?

Carrot, Cumin and Ginger Detox Soup

An original recipe by Not Quite Nigella

Serves 4

• 1 medium onion, sliced

• 2.5cms/1inch knob of ginger peeled and chopped

• 1 tablespoon oil

• 1 kg/2 pound bag carrots, peeled if desired, cut into rough chunks

• 1 teaspoon cumin powder

• 1 litre/1 quart vegetable or chicken stock

• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds to sprinkle

Step 1 - Sautee onion and ginger in oil until translucent and then add carrots and cook for about 5 minutes. Add stock, cumin powder and simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour until carrot is very soft (if you don't want to cook it for that long, cut the carrot up into smaller pieces). Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.

Step 2 - Puree soup in a blender and serve with a teaspoon of cumin seeds sprinkled on top.