Apple & Carrot Soup

This is a simple, easy, and quick soup recipe.

Recipe:

Carrots - 6, medium size

Granny Smith Apples - 2

Onion - 1/2, medium size

Vegetable bullion - 1 cube

Olive oil - 1/2 tablespoon

Water - 6-8 cups

Salt - to taste

Black pepper powder - to taste

Lemon juice (optional) - to taste

• Heat oil. Add chopped onions.  Saute' for 5 minutes.
• Peel the carrots, core the apples. Peeling apples is optional. I did not peel it.  Chop all the carrots and 1 1/2 apple (keeping the remaining 1/2 apple aside).  Add it to the above mixture.  Saute' for 5 to 7 minutes.
• Boil 2 cups of water. Add the vegetable bullion, dissolve it.  Can instead use vegetable broth.  Add it to the above mixture. Add additional 4-6 cups of water. Bring it to a boil.  Lower the flame after that, and let it simmer for 20 minutes.
• In the meantime, peel the remaining half apple that was kept aside. Dice it.  Add a teaspoon of lemon juice and mix it.  This will be used as the crouton substitute for the soup.  
• Once the soup is simmered for 20 minutes, turn off the heat.  Puree the soup in a mixture/food processor.  Pureeing the soup in smaller batches helps, when the mixture is very hot.  Be extra careful.
• Put the soup back on stove at medium heat.  Add salt, freshly ground black pepper.  Let it cook for another 5-7 minutes.  Can add lemon juice (optional).  Taste the soup first to see if lemon juice is required.  
• Plate the soup and enjoy!  This is how I plated the soup.  I formed an edible apple crouton island by placing a small, empty, ice-cream cone with a flat base in the middle of the plate.  I chopped the cone off from the top to keep it the same height as that of the plate, and filled it with the apple dices that were kept aside.  This can be topped with an edible flower or mint leaves.