Carrot Soup with Ginger and Lemon

I bought a bag of organic carrots last week, shortly before being gifted another one by our neighbors who were going out of town, so now I have lots of good carrots on my hands.  I wanted to make a soup that would be tasty and easy for Simran to eat while she is cutting new teeth this week, so I'm making this carrot soup recipe I found on Epicurious.  I'm going to make it vegan though, which means omitting the butter (I'll just use a little olive oil instead to saute everything, or maybe just let it all cook by boiling in the broth, which will happen anyway) and the dollop of sour cream at the end.  I'm sure it will affect the flavor a bit, but I think it will still be okay, and I'm really trying for more vegan dishes.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter (replace with olive oil to make vegan soup)
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 1/4 pounds medium carrots, peeled, chopped (about 3 cups)
• 2 tomatoes, seeded, chopped (about 1 1/3 cups)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
• 3 cups (or more) low-sodium vegetable broth

• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

• 4 tablespoons sour cream (optional)
• 1 small carrot, peeled, grated (optional)

Directions

1. Melt butter in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 4 minutes. Add ginger and garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Add chopped carrots, tomatoes and lemon peel; sauté 1 minute. Add 3 cups stock and bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover partially and simmer until carrots are very tender, about 20 minutes. Cool slightly.

2. Puree soup in batches in blender. Return soup to pot. Mix in lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.)

3. Bring soup to simmer, thinning with more stock, if desired. Ladle into bowls. Top each with sour cream and grated carrot.