Soup and salad, fennel and carrots.

Ah, csa season...  Fennel, carrots, scallions....  Today I have created a lovely carrot and fennel salad, and a carrot top ( note the LACK of capitalization here) soup.

These use most of the same ingredients, as you see in the picture.  Fennel, carrots, scallions.  The chicken broth and V-8 are for the soup, as is the yogurt.  (Chicken broth and V-8 are in a later pic...oops)

So we start with the salad/slaw.  

Scallions, fennel, some of the fronds of the fennel, carrots, golden raisins, candied ginger if you have it.  Shred the veggies using the slicing blade on your food processor.  Chop the fennel fronds coarsely, chop the candied ginger finely.  Toss everything in a bowl, along with a lovely vinaigrette.  

I just made a simple, slightly sweet one with vinegar, honey, olive oil, mustard.  You could throw in a little lemon or fresh dill if you wanted to!

And voila!

Now the soup is equally easy as well as delicious .

You will need a large pot, more scallions, a few carrots, fennel fronds, carrot greens, chicken broth (or veg broth, or water, in which case I would add some garlic in with the scallions), a small can of V-8, and yogurt.  And a little olive oil. 

Chop up the scallions,  sauté in a little olive oil in the pot.  Slice up the carrots, add those.  Chop up the carrot greens (feathery part only), and the fennel fronds, throw them in and sauté.  Add the chicken broth and V-8, and simmer.  Add more water if needed.

Stir yogurt in right before serving or chilling.  Top with a little scallion. 

Note: you can add potato or brown rice to this soup.  You can also purée it for a smoother texture...