Instructions: 1. In 5-quart Dutch oven, melt margarine or butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook 12 minutes or until tender and golden, stirring occasionally.

2. Meanwhile, peel apples and carrots. Cut each apple in half and use melon baller to remove core. Cut apples and carrots into 1-inch chunks.

3. Into onion in Dutch oven, stir apples, carrots, broth, sugar, salt, ginger, and 2 cups water; heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 20 minutes or until carrots are very tender.

4. Remove Dutch oven from heat. Following manufacturers directions, use hand blender to puree mixture in Dutch oven until very smooth. Serve soup with a swirl of half-and-half if you like. Garnish with fresh chives.

NOTES : Use the hand blender to puree this winning combination of sweet carrots and apples right in the Dutch oven. We call for Golden Delicious apples for their consistently good flavor, but feel free to substitute other varieties. 2 WW points.

This was a wonderful first course. Perfect flavors for the season, and so easy. I think you could get away with 1 tbsp of butter, or better even would be olive oil. The flavor is much more of the carrots than the apples. I added a bit of cayenne and nutmeg at the end to give it a warmer flavor. I didnt garnish with anything.

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