RECIPE: A Parmesan rind is the secret to carrot soup on chilly spring evenings

There is a meme about Atlanta’s weather that floats around social media this time of year. It lists 12 “seasons” — winter, “fool’s spring,” “second winter,” “spring of deception,” “third winter” and “the pollening,” among others. An arrow points to wherever we’re experiencing on that given day. Indeed, it’s hard to predict when warm weather is here to stay, even when it seems like winter is far behind us.

For those days that seem to dip into “third winter,” I like to blend together a warm soup that’s packed with spring vegetables and topped with tangy yogurt and fresh mint. It still feels springlike, even if I need the extra coziness offered by a hot meal come dinnertime.

This vegetarian soup works equally well with farmers market varieties of carrots and store-bought bagged ones (just make sure they’re all the same color). The secret is umami-rich Parmesan rind that simmers in the pot with the vegetables to bring depth to an otherwise simple recipe. I keep a bag of leftover rinds in my freezer for soups like these. If you don’t have a stash, use high-quality vegetable stock instead of the water or cut off the rind from a new block of cheese.