Carrot Ginger Soup

Our "Loyola Cookies", aka members of our own Loyola Cooking Club, have done it once again.  The host of our recent club lunch has a friend whose daughter is a food blogger.   The Loyola group is loyal to friends and we always want to support those kids who are venturing into projects that they love.  Like this blog.

Pink Brandywine is the name of a tomato.  Our blogger was treated to this little gem and fell in love with the taste, the smell, and the experience of something that she found divine and which inspired this blog.  If we think back through our lives, we have all experienced an "aha"! moment with a food or recipe.  Taste is innate and special taste experiences stay with you and form how you feel about cooking and eating.

The pinkbrandywine.tumblr.com blog has tons of recipes.  Dishes presented yesterday featured Kale Winter Super Salad, Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Lemon Garlic Tahini Sauce, Beets with Almond Mint Pesto and Goat Cheese, Spicy Balsamic Honey Mustard Chicken, Cauliflower Alfredo and Zucchini Noodles, and Creamy (creamless) Carrot Ginger Soup.

Every recipe prepared was really, really good.  Some took a little license with the recipes (like me), and some altered how the recipes were presented. For example, the beet salad on the blog shows the beets cut into cubes and served, whereas our beets were sliced and layed out in a line on a narrow plate.  The pesto was drizzled over in a line and the goat cheese sprinkled around.  Very pretty.  (I can't seem to remember to take pictures when we are wowing over all this food!)

My Carrot Ginger soup recipe was super simple to prepare.  I doubled it thinking it would serve six small cups at lunch and four men at dinner.  Next time I will triple the recipe because that soup pan was scraped bare.  That is a testament to how good it is.  Since there is no dairy in the soup, it should freeze nicely.

Since the soup will be pureed, there is no need to fuss about chopping everything just so.

Serves:  6
Prep and Cook time:  One hour of which 40 minutes is just simmering

1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 small onion, chopped
A knob of ginger root, grated or chopped
4 large carrots, chopped (just less than 3 cups)
Better than Boullion vegetable base broth
Salt and pepper
Fresh mint, chopped, for garnish

Saute the onion and ginger in the oil until softened.  Add the carrots and just enough broth to cover the carrot mixture.  Cover pan and simmer about 40 minutes or until the carrots are thoroughly softened.

Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes.  Blend the soup with a hand-held device or in a regular blender.  Be careful of hot soup splashes.

To serve, top with a sprinkle of fresh mint.

My family enjoyed this soup as a starter for dinner that included grilled salmon, rice pilaf, greens salad with avocado and a light vinaigrette, and steamed cauliflower with lemon.

Calories per serving of soup is approximately 60 with 8.5 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram protein, and about 2.5 grams mostly monounsaturated fat.  Two-thirds of your vitamin A requirement for the day is met with just one serving of this yummy soup.

- Kim Fielding

http://pinkbrandywine.tumblr.com/

Quick Carrots with Parsley

A colorful addition to any meal.

Carrots, with their year-round availability, are a versatile vegetable in any chef's repertoire.  Added as a base to soups and stews, served raw, or as a salad or side dish, they compliment every season's cuisine.  On this particularly warm day, I briefly simmered the carrot coins until crisp tender in the morning then refrigerated them.  Later that day, I added a simple vinaigrette and topped with fresh chopped parsley.  Cilantro would do nicely as well.  That is it!

serves:  5               prep and cook time:  15 minutes

5 large carrots, cut into coins across the diagonal
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon vinegar
Salt and pepper
Fresh parsley, chopped

Cook the carrots until just tender, about 2-3 minutes.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Whisk together oil, vinegar, and salt and pepper to make a light vinaigrette.  Just before serving, toss the carrots with the dressing and top with parsley.

Calories per serving is approximately 100 calories with 2 g fiber and almost 100% RDA of vitamin A.

The carrots complimented a menu consisting of grilled chicken, quinoa salad, and a tossed green salad.

Note:  a teaspoon of Dijon mustard may be added to the dressing to give it a thicker texture and a little bit of zip!

- Kim Fielding