Cut top of one head of garlic and rub in some olive oil. Wrap the garlic in foil and bake for 30 to 40 minutes at 400 degrees or until garlic is soft. Let cool and then pop all of the garlic cloves out of their skins.
Meanwhile, slice one to two onions and grate 1/4 to 1/2 cup of fresh ginger (I found that if you slice it you end up with woody strings in your soup). Peel 26 cloves of raw garlic (or use the prechopped stuff...I did this because the cold was kicking my butt and I didn't have enough energy to peel that much garlic!).
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter and add onion, ginger, and 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme and 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper. Cook until onions are translucent (about six minutes). Add roasted and raw garlic and cook another three minutes.
Add 3 1/2 cups veggie or chicken broth, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Puree soup in a blender or with a stick blender until smooth. Add 1/2 cup coconut milk (I only had coconut water one time I made this and it turned out fine). You can either squeeze a slice of lemon into each serving or squeeze one whole lemon into the entire batch. I forgot lemons at the store, but I have a bunch of limes, so I'm going to try two or three limes instead of a lemon and see how it goes.
The soup is pretty strong. My husband enjoys it that way, but me and the kids, not so much. I do about a half a mug of soup and then fill the rest of the mug with more chicken broth. It's still intense but tasty and helped us feel better!
Serve hot. You can store the soup for a day or two in the fridge.
