On a freezing day, coming back from a long day of work, how does a nice warm cup of soup sound?

Here is a simple, delicious soup recipe that can be made ahead to make your week easier!

INGREDIENTS:
• 1 onion (diced)
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves (minced)
• 8 cups vegetable broth
• 1 lb carrots (ends chopped off and sliced into 1/4 inch thick discs)
• 2 apples (peeled, cored, and diced)
• 2 tsp turmeric
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp salt
• milk or cream, fresh herbs (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Sautée the diced onion in olive oil.
2. Once onions are translucent, add in the minced garlic cloves and sautée for another 1-2 minutes.
3. Add in vegetable broth and the sliced carrots. Simmer for about 15 minutes, until carrots are tender.
4. Add in the diced apples, turmeric, cinnamon, paprika, and salt. Simmer for about 5 minutes, until apples are tender.
5. Using an immersion (or regular) blender, blend the soup until smooth.
6. Top with a splash of milk or cream and fresh herbs.

Carrots contain vitamins, minerals, carotenoids, flavonoids, etc. Because of these nutrients, carrots may be beneficial in preventing cancer and enhancing your immune system. There are also some reports suggesting their effects in preventing diabetes, and lowering cholesterol and blood pressure.

How about apples? There’s a saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” so they must be really healthy, right?

Unfortunately, a clinical study that compared people that typically ate at least 1 small apple a day vs. those who didn’t concluded that there was no evidence that “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.”

However, many studies show an association between eating apples and a decreased risk of chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease, cancer, and asthma. Apples contain various phytochemicals, many of which have antioxidant and/or anticancer functions.

REFERENCES:
1. Silva Dias, J.C. (2014) Nutritional and Health Benefits of Carrots and Their Seed Extracts. Food and Nutrition Sciences. 2014. 5;2147-2156. http://file.scirp.org/pdf/FNS_2014120411490798.pdf
2. Davis MA, Bynum JP, Sirovich BE. Association between apple consumption and physician visits: appealing the conventional wisdom that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. JAMA Intern Med. 2015 May;175(5):777-83. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2210883
3. Boyer J and Liu RH. Apple phytochemicals and their health benefits. Nutr J. 2004 May 12;3:5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC442131/pdf/1475-2891-3-5.pdf