Monday is a rest day for me from training. It is also the day of the week that I tend to cook for the rest of the week, using up ingredients in the fridge and getting meals planned for the week (incorporating the latest yummy ingredients from the weekly food box delivery).
I got home yesterday with a slew of food to make – my idea of relaxation. I had a chicken to turn into stock, a risotto to whip up for dinner, I was making a Tuesday night easy meal (e.g. reheat and serve) for after swimming… And I had A LOT of carrots to use up. A LOT.
Image from Abel & Cole , the nice folks I shop with for my fruit and veg…
My poor friend Mary – she is visiting for the week, she must think I am well and truly insane (uh, actually I am sure she knows that about me by now)… She gladly joined in the kitchen, we cracked open a bottle of wine (for cooking purposes, really, the risotto needed a glass, honest), and I got into a great multi-tasking frame of mind.
Now, the carrots… Earlier in the day I found two recipes for carrot soup – one for carrot, nutmeg and cream – the other a simple roasted carrot soup. I have never made carrot soup before. In fact, I don’t know if I have ever eaten carrot soup before, although I do love carrots. So I turned to Twitter, my source of food inspiration, for views on which would be best.
Thoughts were mixed. A lot of people said that carrots were sweet enough and didn’t need to be roasted. Some remarked that they avoid cream. A lot of people suggested carrots and coriander. Khara tweeted a link to a leek and carrot soup that looks good (but I wanted to save the leeks in the food box for the weekend). But what caught my eye was a tweet from Bea. Bea Vo is the owner and genius behind Bea’s of Bloomsbury.
Bea tweeted me a recipe in 140 characters. Simple, easy, straightforward. My first thought? “YUM!” My second thought? “THIS IS THE SOUP I’LL MAKE.” So I did. I am sure I got the spices a bit wrong (needed more to my taste – but I suspect this is an individual thing). Also I think it was a bit coconutty for me. Again, this could easily be remedied, either by using less coconut milk, or by roasting more carrots. But I had reserved a few carrots for carrot cake muffins (recipe below) and also used a few in my chicken stock (for the risotto), and I even if a bit coconutty, the soup still tastes delicious.
Bea added when she tweeted this idea that the soup is not only delicious, but it is vegan. As many people know, I just like to make good food, but I thought I would share this too, as many of my friends are vegetarians, vegans, or simply non meat eaters. It is nice to have another option in the recipe hat for when they come around.
Bea’s Vegan Spiced Carrot and Coconut Soup
Ingredients
carrots (lots – I think I used about 15 medium carrots)
cumin
curry powder
salt
pepper
red pepper flakes
vegetable stock (I use Marigold Swiss Bouillon vegetable powder – organic – and have it in my cupboard as a staple product)
coconut milk (half a can – I also always have a can in my pantry)
How To
1. Roast the carrots – peel, chop, sprinkle with salt, pepper, dust with cumin and curry powder and a dash of red pepper flake to taste, then put in a warm oven (200C) for about 30 minutes, tossing regularly, until soft through.
2. Prepare 500ml vegetable stock (one teaspoon, plus water from the kettle)
3. Add stock to the carrots, and puree (I use a hand blender, but you could add carrots and stock to a food processor or a normal blender and blend away) – it took me about 5 minutes to get a nice puree
4. Add coconut milk to taste (and desired consistency) – I used a half a can, but you could use less and more stock if you want a less coconutty soup
5. Serve heated with a hunk of crusty bread.
Yum!
Oh, and as mentioned above, I also made carrot cake muffins. I saved two rather large carrots to make them.
My office colleagues really enjoy it when I go “Betty Crocker” and bake for them. Sadly, this time I neglected to prepare my muffin tins (tsk tsk minds out of the gutter!) and so the muffins were difficult to release. Darn. Guess we will have to have them for breakfast as they are not pretty enough to share at work.
The good thing is that these also freeze well, keeping for up to two months. So in case I do not scarf them all in one go, I can always save the extras for a morning when the last thing I feel like is cooking…
The inspiration for this recipe was Martha Stewart. Yes, I read Martha’s magazines and cookbooks. I admit it.
I got this recipe originally from Martha’s cupcake book, but I have added to it and adjusted it. I am still experimenting with it – and am in search of a good moist substitute for the oil – Bea tells me that applesauce or yoghurt can be subbed, but I didn’t want to experiment last night (it was an assembly line multi tasking multi meal cookfest in my kitchen – I didn’t have time!) so I just used it. Not my ideal, but hey, the end product tastes nice. Enjoy.
Martha’s Carrot Cake Muffins
Ingredients
250g carrots, grated (note – I used 2 large carrots, and grated with my food processor to save time)
2 cups plain flour (1.5 cups if you are in the USA)
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar (I used caster sugar as it is finer)
1 vanilla bean, cut in half and the seeds only scraped and used
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 chopped walnuts
2 medium eggs
2 tablespoons buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinammon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
dash ground cloves
How To
1. Combine grated carrot, eggs, buttermilk, sugar, oil, vanilla beans, raisins and walnuts in one bowl – stir through and mix well (until you get a nice gloopy mix).
2. Combine flour, baking soda, baking pwder, salt and spices in another bowl, and stir together well.
3. Add flour to the carrot mix and stir through, combining well into a nice batter.
4. Add mixture to a prepared baking tin (e.g. buttered / oiled) or use silicone baking cups.
5. Bake in a 200C oven for about 30 minutes or until golden and a tootpick through the centre of a muffin comes out clean.
6. Cook in tin on a wire rack for about 10 minutes, then release from tin and continue to cool.
7. Serve, or ice with a nice cupcake icing and serve as a dessert.
Double Yum! Enjoy.