Daily Unadventures in Cooking » carrots

Carrot & Walnut Soup Recipe with Tarragon

katerina — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 12:37:41 +0000

Not everyone considers soup to be a meal but I certainly do. Soup, especially homemade soup, is perfect for rushed or rainy weeknight dinners. I love to make big batches of soups and have portions stashed in the freezer, ready to be re-warmed and served with a grilled cheese or light salad.

Carrot soups are endlessly variable and very inexpensive to make. Carrots also pair very well with almost every nut imaginable, making this carrot, tarragon and walnut soup recipe very much a meal unto itself. The cream is a nice addition but very much not necessary if you are watching your figure or want to make a vegan carrot soup recipe. If you are freezing the soup, don’t add the cream until you are reheating it.

Carrot, Apple, and Oatmeal Muffins

katerina — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 12:38:00 +0000

Muffins, quite simply are both a creative outlet and a recycling program. These muffins are unique for their use of ground whole oats as their base, the high fiber content, and their ability to use up a bunch of soggy carrots good for little else.

Now, this muffin recipe uses a food processor. I generally have a rule that if I have to use the cuisinart, then I must try and use it as much as possible. It has it’s purpose but I loathe washing that ugly thing, plus it takes up the whole dishwasher and I feel like I am treading heavily on the planet. Crazy I know.

For this carrot muffin recipe I also used the food processor to beat the eggs and wet ingredients before adding them to the dry. Saving a bowl, and making up for the extra dirty appliance.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes Recipe

katerina — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:52:08 +0000

These carrot cake cupcakes are a healthier form of classic carrot cake. Traditionally, nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger are added to a cake batter along with grated carrot and the resulting cake is topped with a thick cream cheese icing. As a child, it was this thick cream cheese frosting that turned me off of carrot cake — I don’t think I’ve had any for more than a decade.

However, when I saw this recipe in Women’s Health magazine (March 2010), I was intrigued because the icing was light and seemed to drip right off of the cupcakes. Plus this recipe is made with whole wheat pastry flour, something I am just learning about.

In the end I actually weaseled out of making the cream cheese frosting for these carrot cake cupcakes anyways. The cream cheese I was intending to use had gone bad so I substituted sour cream instead. A delicious alternative and interesting in itself. I have left the recipe as it is with cream cheese. Let me know if you make the icing with cream cheese, as I intend to next time.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes
(makes 18 cupcakes)
Adapted from Katie Lee recipe

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (can substitute 2 tablespoons flour for ground flax)
1 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1/2 cup plain yogourt
1 lb carrots, grated
1/2 cup golden raisins
6 tablespoons (4 oz) light cream cheese at room temperature (or sour cream!)
1 cup icing sugar
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350F. In a medium bowl combine flours, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon.

In a second bowl beat together brown sugar and canola oil for 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time. Stir in a yogourt, carrots and raisins. Mix in the flour mixture until just combined.

Spoon batter into paper lined muffin tins and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Using an electric mixer, whip cream cheese and sugar. Spread over each cupcake and top with walnuts.

Braised Carrots with Garlic, Thyme and White Wine

katerina — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 14:15:00 +0000

I am totally creeped out by flaccid vegetables. If a carrot or a stalk of celery can be bent I don’t want to look at it. It is no longer fit for consumption raw as far as I am concerned and is usually consigned to a soffrito or mirepoix. However since I had half a dozen beautiful organic carrots in the fridge that had all gone past their prime I had to do something more. Really hoping they weren’t completely gone I tried braising them and it worked great! I knew more or a less what I had in mind but I used this recipe as a reference.

Braised Carrots with Garlic, Thyme and White Wine
(serves 2 as a side)

1T butter
2C carrots, cut into 1/4″ diagonal slices
2T thyme leaves, roughly chopped
1 large clove garlic, sliced
salt and pepper
1/2 glass wine
1/3C chicken stock

Preheat oven to 400F. Heat butter in a dutch oven or skillet with a lid over medium heat. When melted add carrots, thyme, garlic and a good dash of salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Add wine, bring to a simmer and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add chicken stock bring to a simmer. Cut a piece of parchment to fit over the carrots. Remove from heat and put the piece of parchment on top, cover with the lid and put in the oven for approximately 20 minutes.

Carrot and Cashew Soup Recipe

katerina — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 22:23:00 +0000

There was a post on Slashfood a few weeks ago which kick-started my Moosewood Cookbook phase. It was extolling the virtues of the Carrot Soup recipe from the first printing of the cookbook. When my organic box showed up this week with a 2lb bag of cooking carrots and several potatoes it was like it was meant to be. Plus, it seems as though our summer has been curbed a wee bit early so a bowl of soup seemed like the perfect thing.

This recipe does improve the next day. I have transcribed the recipe as I made it but there were lots of variations available and suggestions on the Slashfood post.

Carrot and Cashew Soup
(serves 4)

2 lbs. carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
4 cups stock or water
1 ½ teaspoon salt
1 medium potato, scrubbed and roughly chopped
3-4 tablespoons butter
1 cup onion, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon ginger, grated
⅓ cup cashews, chopped
¾ cup sour cream

Place carrots, liquid, salt and potato into a soup pot and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer it for 12 to 15 minutes. Let it cool to room temperature.

Saute the onion, garlic and nuts with a pinch of salt in the butter until the onions are clear. Stir in the ginger and cook for another minute.

Puree everything together in a blender until smooth and reheat until warm. Adjust seasoning.

Garnish with a tablespoon of the sour cream and some of the cashews.

More Recipes you may be interested in:
Curried Carrot Soup
Braised Carrots with Garlic, Thyme and White Wine
Indian Spiced Cauliflower Soup
Roasted Tomato and Carrot Soup with Ginger

Tags: Carrot, Vegetarian, Vegetable, Soup, Cashews