Carrot and Ginger Soup: Cooking for Wellness at NYU Langone

Why It Matters

The piece connects practical culinary instruction with evidence-based mental-health messaging, positioning everyday food choices and shared cooking as scalable, low-cost interventions for improving mood and resilience. For healthcare providers and employers, it underscores nutrition and lifestyle as actionable components of preventive mental-health care.

Summary

NYU Langone’s “Cooking for Wellness” episode features Chef Jeffrey Held and Dr. Alan Schlecter preparing a simple carrot-ginger soup while discussing the link between diet and mental well-being. The recipe uses seven ingredients—carrots, shallots, garlic, fresh ginger, lemongrass, orange juice, coconut milk—and demonstrates techniques like sweating aromatics, steeping aromatics in a sache, and blending and straining for a velvety finish. Dr. Schlecter emphasizes that nutrition influences mood and that habits like eating well, sleeping, and movement support both well-being and success. The segment frames cooking as an accessible, joyful practice that can promote mental health.

Original Description

In this episode of Cooking for Wellness, Chef Jeffrey Held prepares a vegan carrot and ginger soup—a favorite among NYU Langone patients. He is joined by Dr Alan D. Schlechter, clinical associate professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and co-teacher of The Science of Happiness at NYU, for a conversation about how food choices can influence mood and wellbeing. Made with just a few ingredients, this comforting soup is easy to prepare and full of layered flavor.

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Chapters

00:00 – Welcome / Carrot and ginger soup

01:08 – Food, mood, and wellbeing

02:09 – Preparing the vegetables

03:41 – Wellbeing and success

04:04 – Building flavor with orange juice and coconut milk

05:09 – Using a sachet for aromatics

06:10 – Blending the soup safely

07:04 – Straining for a smooth texture

08:07 – Tasting and final thoughts

Carrot and Ginger Soup

Ingredients

4 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for garnish

2 cups sliced shallots

pinch salt, plus more to taste

¼ cup garlic cloves, peeled and gently smashed

3 pounds carrots, peeled and roughly chopped

¾ cup fresh orange juice

1 cup light coconut milk

3 quarts water

1 stalk lemongrass

2-inch piece fresh ginger

2 tablespoons lightly toasted coriander seeds

toasted coriander, for garnish (optional)

carrot tops, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over low to medium heat. Add the shallots with a pinch of salt and cook gently until softened but not browned. Add the garlic and cook briefly until fragrant.

Add the carrots and cook for several minutes to begin softening. Add the orange juice, and the coconut milk, and water, and bring to a gentle simmer.

Prepare the aromatics sachet by trimming the bottom of the lemongrass and lightly crushing it with the back of a knife. Place the lemongrass, ginger, and coriander seeds in cheesecloth and fold or tie closed. Add the sachet to the pot.

Simmer until the carrots are very soft and easily pierced with a skewer. Remove the sachet, pressing lightly to release its liquid back into the soup.

Blend the soup until smooth using an immersion blender, or carefully blend in batches using a countertop blender, filling it no more than halfway. Strain through a fine mesh strainer for a smooth finish.

Stir in coconut milk to taste and adjust seasoning with salt as needed. Serve warm, garnished with toasted coriander and carrot tops, if desired.

#vegan #vegetarian #healthyeating