Quick Carrot and Raisin Salad

I think it's natural when starting a new year to think about changes you can make to your life to make it better. Whether they work or not is a whole different story. And while resolutions at this time of year are a dime a dozen, you won't find any of them here. Any lifestyle changes I'm making, I've been making for a couple months now. And really, they're personal. Sorry.

What I can share here, besides this really delicious Quick Carrot Slaw from Cooking Light, are some things to look forward to with this blog.

1: There will be a big exciting blog giveaway this month, just in time for my birthday. I'm pretty excited about it.

2: January will again be a celebration (for the most part) of my big love of vegetables. Yippee carrot salad! It's really good. I promise!

3: There will be much much more yeast bread here. I've been dabbling in it a little bit and haven't posted because I'm not changing the recipes at all. But as I get more confident in my bread baking I'll be sharing with you!

4: Perhaps you may remember me mentioning that Chester and Louise are in the freezer. While I am tremendously enjoying the pig and the lamb, the Brain informed me yesterday that we are getting 1/4 of a cow in the next two weeks. Sorry vegetarians, but I've got a hearty portion of pig and lamb to cook up to make room for the cow. and most likely there will be more meat going on. There still will be some vegetarian recipes sprinkled in though. Like this delicious carrot salad.

5: Yes, I'm in school for another semester and that means I'm going to continue to rely on the slow cooker. SO look for more easy to prepare meals for people on the go!

6: I still love legumes and Legume Wednesday will be continuing through 2009. Starting next week.

7: I have been really crappy at responding to comments and I'm going to try much harder to respond when you comment.

Yikes! That last one sounds like a resolution so I'm going to stop here. Have some carrot salad.

Quick Carrot and Raisin Salad
adapted from Cooking Light
Yield 4 servings

1/3 cup raisins
1/2 small red onion, minced
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 tablespoons sliced almonds
1 pound matchstick-cut carrots
3 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise
juice of 1 lemon
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cloves garlic, minced

Combine the first 5 ingredients in a large bowl.

Combine mayonnaise and remaining ingredients in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Spoon dressing over carrot mixture; toss gently to coat. Cover and chill at least 30 minutes.

Maple Glazed Carrots

I am thankful because today I get to express my wishes and desires for the direction of this beautiful country. I get to stand up and say this is what I want and this is what's important to me. For the first time ever, I carefully went through and looked up each candidates position. Well, okay not all the candidates. I didn't look up those people from the Green Party, the Socialist Party, or Ralph Nader. And I overlooked the Ohio Supreme Court people by accident. And then there were three separate people on my ballot that were somehow peripherally people I knew. My breakfast buddy A's mother-in-law, another lawyer's dad, and a friend of the family's brother were all running for things, one Republican, one Democrat, and one Independent (sorry, my town may be the county seat and twice the size of Wasilla, but it's still pretty small). But, other than that I made informed decisions. I looked up who was running for sheriff. I looked up the issues. I listened to both sides and I thought about things and I made decisions for myself and I VOTED. This is a truly great country that we get the chance to vote. And for that I'm thankful. And if when tonight is over, Barak Obama gets elected I'll be even more thankful. That's right, I've voted for Mr. Obama. It's done. So none of your political arguments are going to change that. Or those damn robo-calls. Man those are annoying.


What's most important is that YOU actually make an informed decision about what's important to you and you go out there and wait in line and vote too. And besides if you take one of these stickers to Ben and Jerry's, they'll give you a free ice cream. That's something to be thankful for. Especially if your nearest Ben and Jerry's isn't hours away.

These lovely Maple Glazed Carrots were part of my Dinner of Giving Thanks. They were super easy and completely delicious. And yes, I just ate all of the leftovers for lunch. I might have to make these again...

Maple Glazed Carrots
from Real Simple

3 pounds carrots, sliced 1/4 inch thick on the diagonal
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
Kosher salt and black pepper

In a large skillet, combine the carrots, syrup, butter, 1/3 cup water, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper.
Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, stirring once, until the carrots are tender and the liquid has reduced to a glaze, 12 to 15 minutes. (If the carrots are tender before the liquid has thickened, uncover, increase heat to medium-high and cook until the liquid forms a glaze.)

Orange Roasted Carrots with Honey, a chunk of meat, and some dirt

Today, with the help of my migrant farm workers (my mom and stepdad) the garden has been planted. I would have taken a photo, but for the most part it's merely a slab of dirt. But in a couple months I will have eggplant, tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapenos, cucumbers, kohlrabi, beets, beans, radishes, turnips, cabbage, broccoli, onions, and an assortment of squashes (zucchini, yellow, and acorn). But like I said, for now it's a slab of dirt. They also weeded and planted in my herb garden. My stepdad pruned one of my rosebushes and promised that I would have bigger more vibrant roses because of it. My little family of Robin Red Breasts looked on the whole time. So far I count 3 babies. They're only a couple days old.

My mom and stepdad are Master Gardeners. So having them spend the day meant a day spent outside enjoying the warm temperatures and the sunshine. They complimented my tulips out front and told me that if the tree bush that I have growing there is an elderberry, that the berries would then be edible. Now I just have to go about finding out what exactly an Elderberry is supposed to look like.

My mom even pulled up most of the dandelions in the yard and pointed out a virulent weed (I forgot the name, but the phrase "virulent weed" had me pulling weeds as best I could!) and she helped me pull all of it from under the Maple. So I made them a batch of chocolate chip cookies to snack on and tried not to be completely annoying while I watched them work. Gardening is much more fun when you can be involved. I also made them dinner. Because I know that I have some vegetarian readers, I didn't take any photos of the chunk of meat that I served them. It was a 2 1/2 pound eye of round roast that I got at Costco on the very cheap. I also prepared it from the recipe from this cookbook on page 417. It was FABULOUS!

What I will tell you about is the Orange-Roasted Baby Carrots with Honey. They may have completely charcoaled the pan I roasted them in, but they were really really good. My mom kept eating them and the recipe went home with them in the stack of 2007 Bon Appetit magazines. The orange wasn't overpowering at all. It was like a little kiss of it. And the honey enhanced the carrots natural sweetness so I couldn't really tell it was there either. It was like a whole lot of really good pieces making an even better whole. Even if my carrots weren't baby. They were the baby cut mini kind Ala Costco again. I love that store.

Orange-Roasted Carrots with Honey

from Bon Appetit

1 1/2 pounds peeled baby carrots

2 Tbsp olive oil

zest of one orange

juice of one orange

1 1/2 Tbsp honey

salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Arrange carrots in single layer on rimmed baking sheet. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and orange peel; sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss. Pour orange juice over; cover tightly with foil. Roast until crisp tender, about 10 minutes. Remove foil. Increase temperature to 450 degrees F. Drizzle honey over carrots. Roast uncovered until carrots are tender and browned in spots, about 10 minutes longer. Drizzle lightly with additional olive oil. Sprinkle with salt.

Spiced Carrot and Zucchini Quinoa

Today was the first day of physical therapy. It's amazing how in 2 weeks my leg has shriveled to downright puny. My therapist and I had a long discussion on what I could and couldn't do and although I'm sure she thinks I'm chomping on the bit to get back to athletic life, she also says that a metric century (62 mile bicycle ride) in November is a "realistic goal". Yippee! Being the third knee surgery I was pretty scared she was going to tell me that rehab was going to be more conservative. But all my random leg lifts on the couch have apparently done me good and she said that she's pleased with my strength and happy with my range of motion. I can now bend my knee a whole 96 degrees. That's better than I thought I could do! So between chapters of the Cider House Rules I'm flopping around like a fish out of water doing my exercises. I will be strong again!

But what does this have to do with food? Not a whole lot. I'm still eating food the ladies in town are making. I really have to get the recipe for the cube steak that came over on the weekend. It's seriously yummy. But today's recipe I made a while back and is really really healthy. It even contains a food my mother considers as one of my special fancy foods. Quinoa.

Quinoa isn't a new food. It's actually an ancient food from South America. The leaves are edible, but good luck finding them in a grocery store out here in North Central Ohio. Or really I'm not sure where you can find them. Maybe in New York City. Or probably South America. Anyway, I digress. Quinoa, pronounced keenwa, is a pseudocereal because it's not a grass. The ancient Incas called it the "mother of all grains". We eat the seed part of quinoa and it's a complete protein, meaning it has a balanced distribution of all the amino acids. This makes it a very good meal for vegetarians. Quinoa also is gluten free, which is important to a whole lot of people. (thank you wikipedia)

Quinoa also comes in different colors. The white kind is most readily available in larger supermarkets. The red kind tastes a little nuttier than the white kind. Quinoa is also very easy and quick to cook, but they should be rinsed several times before cooking to remove their natural coating of saponin. If the quinoa isn't rinsed the saponin can make it taste soapy and that's no good.

This Spiced Carrot and Zucchini Qunioa recipe I found on Epicurious.com and it really makes a tasty dish. For people who need meat, this makes an excellent side dish. I ate it for lunches as a nutritious and tasty meal all in itself. It's the kind of dish I feel good eating, because it's so tasty and yet I know I'm doing something excellent for my body. Like growing my muscles.

Oh and those 62 mile bike rides are really more like a string of 6, 10 mile bike rides (yes, plus 2 miles) with rest stops with Gatorade, fruit, and Snickers bars in between. And you get all day to do it. Well a large portion of the day. They're a lot of fun and really not that difficult to do. Usually if you get a flat tire or something, other bikers will stop to help you and there's a support vehicle that keeps circling the route. The American Diabetes Association, in most states, has a Tour de Cure every summer that has a 62 mile (100km) option that I did once near Grand Rapids, Michigan with the Queen Geek and had a tremendous amount of fun. They do also have shorter routes too. These bike rides are a great way to support a terrific organization, spend a healthy afternoon, and eat Snickers bars guilt free. What I'll do for a guilt free Snickers bar....

Spiced Carrot and Zucchini Quinoa

from Bon Appetit

4 cups water

2 cups quinoa, rinsed well, drained

2 Tbsp dried currants

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup olive oil

2 medium carrots, peeled, cut into small cubes

2 medium zucchini, trimmed, cut into small cubes

1 Tbsp Hungarian sweet paprika

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Combine first 4 ingredients in heavy large saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until water is absorbed and quinoa is tender, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add carrots; saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add zucchini; saute until tender, about 3 minutes. Mix in paprika and cinnamon. Add quinoa to skillet; toss to blend. Season with salt and pepper.

Lamb Chops in Beer

Finally I have cooked something delicious in the slow cooker! Yippee!

You see, I may or may not have sneaked into the Borders last time I was in the next county. It's the only Borders in a 50 mile radius. And I had a coupon. A 25% off coupon. Borders Rewards is a wonderful thing. So while I cannot confirm (because I may spend more than I possible should there) that I was in the Borders, I can tell you that I have this cookbook I really like so far. It's called Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes for Two. And whoa, there's some nice looking recipes in there.

I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but I have a small food hoarding problem. We're also buying a quarter of a cow in the next couple weeks. So getting some of the food out of the freezer would probably be a good idea. We could buy a deep freeze, but chances are we would probably fill that if we had it. Anyhow, I was poking around in the freezer and came across 4 little lamb chops. Not the Frenched fancy kind, but the more choppy kind.

So here I was with 4 little meaty pieces of lamb and a slow cooker book that didn't belong to my momma. OK, my momma never used a slow cooker and my only childhood memories of a slow cooker were for grandma's baked beans on a buffet and my Hungarian aunt's oh so delicious cabbage rolls. So I pulled out my little 2 quart crock pot. Which I'm guessing may have been a wedding present, because it still had the plastic thing on the plug. I know we got a mammoth one as a wedding present, but I can't use that with a slow cooker book for 2 people. We don't eat THAT much. Well, we could probably try, but that would be gluttony. Interestingly enough gluttony in food isn't considered one of the seven deadly sins anymore.

OK I'm off topic again. Sorry. I had my book, my little slow cooker, my lamb chops and a cold Michelob Light. And I had the perfect recipe. Lamb Chops in Beer. I popped the vegetables and chops in the slow cooker poured a beer on top and off we went to church and then to Walmart. Church in the middle of the early afternoon because after the double whammy of 14 to 18 inches of snow and daylight savings weekend, we simply didn't wake up early enough to dig ourselves out for morning mass.

After we cleaned Walmart out of a sizable chunk of groceries, we came home to a delicious smelling house and some of the best lamb chops I've ever had. And I'm entering this into a fun food blog event called Weekend Cookbook Challenge (WCC) which this month is being hosted by the oh so lovely Lisa at La Mia Cucina. The theme is Crock Pots, Dutch Ovens and Pressure Cookers.

Lamb Chops in Beer

from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes for Two

1 medium sized onion, sliced

2 medium sized carrots, sliced

2 potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 clove garlic crushed

2 Tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley

1/8 tsp dried thyme

4 lamb chops

2 Tbsp flour

salt and pepper to taste

cooking spray

2 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1 Michelob Light

1. Combine the onion carrots, potatoes, garlic, parsley, and thyme in the crock. Sprinkle the chops with the flour and season with salt and pepper.

2. In a large skillet sprayed with cooking spray, heat the chops over medium high heat. Sear both sides, about 2 minutes total. Place them in the crock, laying them side by side. Add the tomato and pour the beer over the top. Cover and cook on HIGH for 3 1/2 to 4 hours, until the meat is fork-tender.

Carrot Salad with Lemon Walnut Vinaigrette

We are expecting yet more snow. Somewhere around 8 to 14 inches of snow is predicted. It's just downright depressing. The Meijer's was packed full of people stocking up before the storm when I went grocery shopping today. I have to admit I was stocking up too. But I was only stocking up until the big doctor's appointment next Friday. I also went to the library and although I discovered that it has a larger cookbook section than the local Borders, it took me almost 2 hours to find 5 books to check out. I was careful, just in case, to pick books that I can renew for 3 weeks at a time, so that IF I have to be off my feet I'll have something to read. I've also learned that I need to alphabetize my book list by author and genre (fiction, nonfiction, etc.) because either I was looking in the wrong places or my book list is highly obscure. I'd love it if you could recommend a good book to add to my reading list.

So by the time I got home, I was cranky and developing a headache. I wanted something to eat that wasn't a lot of hassle, yet tasted good. I started some soup. While the soup was cooking (for 30 minutes, but at that point it seemed like forever), I made this wonderful perky salad. Yes, I called it perky. Try it, you'll see what I mean.

The hardest part about the salad was shredding the 2 whole carrots. But even that I did on the box grater instead of the Cuisinart. We don't have a dishwasher and it was a cleanup issue. So once the carrots were shredded, bing bang boom, I mixed up the vinaigrette and it was done. And it was good. The mustard and lemon and walnut oil created a surprisingly happy combination. To quote one of the actress guest judges on the original Iron Chef "Hee hee hee hee. It tastes like a party in my mouth. hee hee hee hee."

Carrots in Lemon-Walnut Vinaigrette

from Healthy Cooking For Two (Or Just You!)

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

2 tsp walnut oil

1 1/2 cups coarsely grated carrots

Salt and pepper to taste

In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice and mustard until blended; then gradually whisk in oil.

Add the carrots and toss well. Taste the salad and season it with salt and pepper as needed.

Per Serving: 78 calories, 4.7g total fat, 0.4g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 32mg sodium, 0.9g protein, 9.1g carbohydrates, 2.7g dietary fiber.

If you have a nut allergy, you can substitute canola oil for the walnut oil.

If Only the BBQ wasn't buried in snow...

After yesterday's oh so decadent chocolate sandwiches that left me sitting around bloated and overstuffed with a happy smile on my face, today is the triumphant return of vegetables! I return to vegetables with perhaps one of the healthiest. Cabbage. Both red and white cabbage too. Double whammy!

Cabbage is a great source of Vitamin C. It's also high in manganese, dietary fiber, folate and vitamin B6. Cabbage is one of those worldwide vegetables. It can be found all over Europe, it's used in cuisines from India and the Orient. It can be eaten boiled, fermented, sauteed, or even raw. Like I did.

I wanted to make a red and green cabbage coleslaw. I guess I just thought it would be pretty. That and Val over at More Than Burnt Toast keeps posting recipes to BBQ. Our BBQ keeps getting snowed in. How weird is it that we have more snow in February than in January? Very odd if you ask me. All this BBQ posting has me in a picnic sort of mood. So I hunted around and found this recipe on Epicurious that I sort of used as my inspiration.

Although I kept having to switch bowls to get one big enough to accommodate the entire salad, it was a fairly easy recipe to make. I personally found it easier to just cut up the cabbage by hand than to use the food processor and spend so much time cleaning it. But I'm sure the food processor would work for this too. The result was this lavish and colorful salad that is super super tasty. It would go great with a burger. Or if you're a vegetable nut like me, a heaping helping is a satisfying lunch!

And since it only used half a head of red cabbage and half a head of green cabbage, expect more cabbage recipes in the very near future. Cabbage starts to lose its vitamin C quickly after being cut.

Multicolored Cabbage Slaw

inspired by Bon Appetit

3 Tbsp rice vinegar

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 Tbsp sesame oil

2 Tbsp creamy peanut butter

1 Tbsp soy sauce

2 Tbsp packed brown sugar

2 large cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp minced ginger

1/2 medium head of red cabbage thinly sliced

1/2 small head of green cabbage thinly sliced

1/2 yellow bell pepper cut into thin strips

1/2 red bell pepper cut into thin strips

1 cup precut matchstick carrots strips

4 green onions thinly sliced (green and white parts)

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1 Tbsp sesame seeds

In a small bowl mix together vinegar, oils, peanut butter, soy sauce, sugar, ginger, and garlic until combined.

Combine cabbages, peppers, carrots, onions, cilantro and sesame seeds in a very large bowl. Add dressing and toss to coat.

Carrot Soup

It has been raining. All last night. Most of yesterday. Part of the night before. All day today. The constant rain has not only started to dampen my mood (except for the ocaisional pun hee hee) but it has created a soup out of our backyard. Our basement hasn't flooded so far. It's only a little damp around the edges. Our garage however is leaking.

When the Brain and I got married, I moved from a 1200 square foot apartment and he moved from a 1100 square foot house to lovely Nowhere, Ohio. Right into a 700 square foot house. So pretty much over the course of the last year we have been in the process of removing 1600 extra square foot of crap out of the garage. We've been doing pretty good at it. We've donated some stuff. We threw some stuff out. We've "oops" broken stuff. We've put up shelves to stash some of our stuff. We still can't get a car in our garage. But we can make a path to the beer fridge so it'll be okay in the end.

So there's a vent in the top of the garage. I guess that's so if we ever could get a car in the garage, we couldn't leave it running and kill ourselves with carbon monoxide poisoning. Anyway, I checked to see if the lake taking over the backyard was invading the garage only to find dripping from the vent through my sleeping bag, through the Brain's sleeping bag, on some of the boat cushions, down to the Brain's weight bench. I pulled over an empty garbage can to catch the drips and called the Brain to come fix it.

Then I made some soup. This soup recipe came from my brand spanking new vegetable cookbook. Who would have thought there would be more than one cookbook dedicated to vegetables that wasn't necessarily a "vegetarian cookbook". Now I have nothing against vegetarians, it's just that I can't digest soy and it gets a little ugly when I eat some. So this new book is Vegetable Love by Barbara Kafka. It's not quite as easy to find vegetables as my beloved Vegetables Every Day by Jack Bishop, but it does have them grouped by regions and by family so I'm learning some stuff there. With such a miserable day, I decided to go with good old familiar carrots and a lovely creamy carrot soup. It was warming and delicious and went great with some shavings of Grana Padano cheese and fresh cracked pepper ontop.


Creamy Carrot Soup
adapted from Vegetable Love by Barbara Kafka

2 tsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
3/4 pound carrots (2 very large), peeled, trimmed and cut across into 1 inch rounds
2 3/4 cups vegetable stock
1 cup fat free ricotta cheese
1 tsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp lemon juice

Grana Padano
Black pepper

Cook the oil and cumin in a medium saucepan over medium heat for 1 minute to release the flavor of the cumin. Add the carrots and vegetable stock. Cover and bring to a boil until the carrots are very soft (about 30-40 minutes). Remove from heat. Puree with an immersion blender until smooth. Stir in ricotta. Season with salt and lemon juice.
Garnish with Grana Padano and black pepper.

Stew in Fall- What a match!

Today, the sun was shining and everyone on our street was outside raking leaves. It was a beautiful fall day. The kind of day that makes you wish that fall would last for most of the year. Clean, crisp, chilly. The kind of day that when you come inside you want something hearty and warm. A day you appreciate that "stick to your ribs" character of stew. I'm not talking about those days that are so cold the snot inside your nose freezes and you need chili, heavy on the jalapenos, to start to feel human again. Just a nice warming stew in fall.

Being that I've already shared my favorite fall stew here, I decided to try a new stew. This is Moroccan-Style Braised Beef with Carrots and Couscous from Cooking Light. After a week of Ice Cream Terrine and decadent Chocolate Cranberry Cupcakes, I'm really good with something from Cooking Light. I did think it would be more interesting with more vegetables in it and there definitely wasn't enough couscous for the amount of stew. But, the stew itself was good and I even liked the gravy. Normally I'm not such a fan of gravy, but this gravy is rich and thick and has some darn tasty undertones.

Moroccan-Style Braised Beef with Carrots and Couscous

Cooking Light

Beef:

2 tsp olive oil

1 pound lean beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

3 medium onions thinly sliced

4 garlic cloves, chopped

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp ground turmeric

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp ground ginger

2 (14oz) cans less sodium beef broth

1/4 cup packed dried apricots

1/8 tsp salt

1/8 tsp black pepper

4 large carrots, peeled and cut on the diagonal

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Couscous:

2 tsp olive oil

1 garlic clove, crushed

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground turmeric

1/3 cup less sodium beef broth

1/3 cup water

2/3 cup uncooked whole wheat couscous

1/4 chopped green onions

Remaining Ingredient:

1/4 cup fresh parsley, divided

To prepare beef, heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Sprinkle beef with 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Add beef to pan, and cook 4 minutes or until beef is browned on all sides, turning occasionally. Transfer beef to a bowl.

Add onions to pan; cook 10 minutes longer or until tender, stirring frequently. Add garlic cloves and next 4 ingredients (through ginger); cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add broth; bring to a boil. Add apricots; reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. Cover and cook over medium-low heat 30 minutes. Using an immersion blender in pan, puree onion mixture. Stir in 1/8 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.

Return beef to onion mixture; cook over medium-low heat 1 hour or until beef is tender. Add carrot to pan; cover and cook 15 minutes or until carrot is tender. Stir in 1/4 cup chopped parsley.

While beef cooks, prepare couscous. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add crushed garlic clove, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon turmeric. Stir in 1/3 cup broth and 1/3 cup water; bring to a boil. Gradually stir in couscous. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand 5 minutes; fluff with a fork. Stir in green onions.

Spoon couscous onto plates. Top evenly with beef stew, and sprinkle each serving with parsley.

Eh What's Up Doc?

I admit it. I'm the kind of girl who doesn't like to be caught without. When going away for a trip I always pack twice as many pairs of underpants as needed. Just in case. I have sticks of deodorant stashed in multiple places around the house. I even have an extra tube of toothpaste in my car. Unfortunately when it comes to carrots, you can have a little too many. While rummaging around trying to figure out what to make next, I came to believe that there is no logical reason for me to have 10 pounds of carrots in my fridge. Carrots are ridiculously high in beta-carotene and are great for your eyes, they lower cholesterol, and might prevent heart attacks and cancer. But what exactly do you do with 10 pounds of carrots? Or even a healthy chunk of them?

I made soup. Soup is the great equalizer of odds and ends of vegetables. I hunted around for a good carrot soup recipe. This was a little trickier than I thought because I just didn't feel like putting ginger or chillies or anything fancy in it. I wanted carrot soup that was warm and homey and nourishing. So I kinda sorta peeked at the recipe my mother-in-law had posted on her fridge; I would give credit except it's an old photocopy from some unknown cookbook. I added some things and took some things out. I don't personally see the need for heavy cream in a pureed soup very often. It tasted good. Comforting. Homemade. But it needed a garnish. Bear with me, garnishing soups is a pretty recent kick I've been on. Sprinkling it with dried cranberries set it off just right. The sweet tart of the cranberries balance nicely with the salty smoothness of the soup. Yum.

Carrot Soup

8 Tbsp (1 stick) of butter

15 carrots, peeled and sliced

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 onion, chopped

2 potatoes, peeled & diced

1/2 cup chopped parsley

6 cups chicken broth

salt and pepper to taste

Dried cranberries for garnishing

Melt the butter in a dutch oven over medium high heat, add the carrots, celery, and onion, and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring from time to time. Add the potatoes and parsley and stir until coated. Stir in the stock and cook, covered, until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Puree with a hand blender or food processor. Return to the pot, add salt and pepper to taste and rewarm. Garnish with dried cranberries.