Spiced Sweet Potato & Carrot Soup

Okay, I might have been exaggerating slightly when I said that chocolate cures all illness. There's definitely a place in my cold-fighting repertoire for vitamin C rich food.

And soup. And the combination of vitamin C therewith.

Can you tell that I haven't quite been healed yet? Can you hear my sniffling through the computer screen?

This makes a ton, so you'll have lots on hand in the freezer for emergency cold-fighting power (you know, should you be out of your first line of defence). If you want to keep things vegan, omit the yogurt and use olive or canola oil in place of the butter.

Spiced Sweet Potato & Carrot Soup

Ingredients

2 tbsp butter, divided
1 medium onion, chopped
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
3 cups chopped, peeled carrots
3½ cups vegetable or chicken broth
3 cups water
1/3 cup plain yogurt, plus more for serving (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp parsley, minced

For added flavour, add one of the following: 1 tbsp orange zest and ½ cup orange juice (remove ½ cup water), ½ tsp curry powder, 1 tbsp freshly grated ginger

Directions

1. Heat 1 tbsp butter in a large dutch oven. Add onions and sauté until translucent and soft, about 4 minutes. Push onions to side of pan. Add remaining 1 tbsp butter to the center of the pan and let milk solids brown. Once browned, stir in cinnamon and nutmeg and stir just until fragrant.

2. Stir in potatoes and carrots, tossing to get butter over all the vegetables. Then pour in broth and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 35 minutes. Purée in batches in a blender or with an immersion blender. Check seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste. Stir in yogurt, if using, and serve in deep bowls with an additional dollop and a sprinkling of parsley.

Carrot and Cilantro Fritters

I'm definitely having one of those weeks where, in the kitchen anyway, things are not going entirely to plan. We'd bought some Rowe Farms marinated chicken legs and threw them out thanks to a super strong funky fish smell.

Last time I checked, chicken should not smell like fish. Not amused, Rowe Farms, not amused.

So, we were left with my planned side dish: carrot cilantro fritters.

Remember how I was complaining the other day about my lack of photographic ability? I don't know that any photographer could have salvaged what these fritters looked like. I made two key mistakes early on. I started cooking before the oil was hot enough and then, I didn't let the first few get enough of a crust on the bottom. Consequently they ended up looking like... well... like a carrot slaw exploded all over the frying pan.

Having confessed that much, the mess was still delicious to eat, so I decided to keep trying to cook the fritters up.

I'm glad I did too, because, by the end of the whole traumatic experience (the kitchen still stank of that horrible fishy-chicken smell), I'd gotten the hang of it, fixed my mistakes (and tweaked the recipe) and was happily nomming away on the freshly cooked fritters as they popped out of the pan.

No more carrot slaw explosion.

Note: If you're not the patient type, do not attempt this recipe. You need to drop the food in and then leave it alone. I can't emphasize this enough. If you're like me and like moving stuff around in the pan and checking it every couple of minutes or so, this recipe will not work for you. You have to let these get a good, solid crust on before even thinking of flipping them over.

Carrot and Cilantro Fritters

(again, from good ol'Nigel)

Ingredients
2 large carrots, coarsely grated
½ small onion, finely grated
a hunk of strong cheddar (I used about 3 oz of Dubliner Irish cheddar), grated
1 egg, lightly beaten
salt and pepper to taste
2 heaping tbsp flour
1 palmful cilantro, chopped (if cilantro isn't your thing, use chervil or parsley instead)
neutral flavoured oil for frying

Directions

1. Squeeze excess liquid from carrots and onion, then mix together with cheese, egg, flour, cilantro, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Batter should be thick and not runny.

2. Pour enough oil into a large, cast iron skillet to coat the base. Heat over medium-low. Oil is ready when you drop a test bit of carrot-batter in and a crust is created on one side in 3-4 minutes.

3. Drop heaping tablespoon amounts of the carrot batter into the frying pan 2-3 at a time. Let brown on one side for about 4 minutes. Do not attempt to move these babies before they've had the time to develop that crust. Once the crust is formed, gently flip over and fry for 3-4 more minutes. Remove from pan and let drain on a paper towel. Serve as they pop out of the pan.

A great meal for two of you standing around in the kitchen, drinking wine.

Adventures with Purple Carrots

So, I bought a bag of locally produced heirloom carrots last week and was totally pleased with myself because, not only were they local AND heirloom AND organic, but they were also cheaper than a standard bag.

Inside the bag were three different kinds of carrots, a dark orange-red variety (can you tell I've little experience with heirloom varieties?), a purple one and a pale yellow carrot.

before peeling

all peeled up

 While I was making carrot kinpira this week, I decided I wanted to try it with a mixture of all three carrot varieties. It had the makings of pure awesome.

In my head, all I could see was the rainbow.

Totally pretty, huh? I mean, how often do you get to eat purple vegetables?

Doesn't it look somewhat freakish?

So, here's what I realized with this whole cooking experiment: the minute you throw a purple carrot into anything, prepare yourself to eat a whole lot of purple.

The kinpira ceased to have any colour other than purple.

Not only were the all the carrots purple post cooking, but my fingers were stained purple and a section of the couch where my husband dropped a sliver of carrot is also purple.

We sprayed the slip cover with stain remover. It's not coming out.

Moral of the story: treat purple carrots as you would beets. With respect. And wearing gloves if you don't want to walk around with purple fingers for two days.

Blueberry Carrot Muffins

Can you believe it? I've got another sore throat coming on. This makes it the third one since Christmas. I've been taking Cold FX like no tomorrow, but I think that I really need to up my game in regards to colourful fruits and veggies to finally recover from this extended series of colds.

Last night we had a very green stir fry, so today, I'm craving other colours. The brighter, the better.

And, with August Cooks back in session, I was inspired by the most recent coffee cake recipe to try out a muffin version.

 There's just something so lovely about that blue and orange combination, you know?

Some vibrancy for a melty February Sunday.

Blueberry Carrot Muffins

(makes 12)

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
¼ cup packed brown sugar
1½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp allspice
pinch freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup finely grated carrot
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup milk
½ cup plain yogurt (I used Liberté Greek yogurt)
¼ cup maple syrup (for a stronger flavour, you could use molasses here)
¼ cup butter, melted
1 cup blueberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400º. Line a muffin tin (12 count) with liners.

2. Mix together dry ingredients (flour through nutmeg) in a medium bowl. Be sure to break up any clumps of brown sugar.

3. Stir together wet ingredients in a large bowl (carrots through butter).

This is my absolutely favourite yogurt brand. Their full fat yogurts are to die for, and their Greek yogurts are something I bring to school all the time for breakfast.

Mix all but 1 tbsp dry ingredients into wet. Stir until just combined.

 4. Toss blueberries with remaining tbsp of flour mixture. This will prevent the blueberries from sinking to the bottom of the muffins.

5. Gently fold in blueberries. This mixture will be thick, but don't worry, it'll still produce a light, fluffy muffin.
 Divide batter between the 12 muffin cups.

 Don't be afraid of piling it in there! They'll rise, but they won't explode.

6. Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes, until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Remove from tin and let cool on a rack.

Muffins can be wrapped tightly with plastic wrap and frozen for a month. Just pop them in your lunch bag and you're ready to go!

Moroccan Flavours

Welcome to your two-for-one deal, and my last post of November!

This weekend, Kat came over (with an AMAZING fruitcake recipe that I'll share with you tomorrow) and I whipped up (read: spent an hour and a half preparing) Spicy Moroccan Chickpeas with bulgur and Moroccan Carrot Salad.

I almost forgot to take a picture... so this was hastily done!

Spicy Moroccan Chickpeas

(Cooking Light)

Ingredients

1/4  cup  extra-virgin olive oil
3  large garlic cloves, peeled
2  cups  thinly sliced red onion
1/2  cup  dried apricots, sliced
1  tablespoon  ras el hanout (Moroccan spice blend) or garam masala
1  teaspoon  salt
3/4  teaspoon  black pepper
1/4  teaspoon  crushed red pepper
1  (3-inch) cinnamon stick

1/2  cup  water
1 1/2  teaspoons  grated lemon rind
1 1/2  tablespoons  fresh lemon juice
2  (15-ounce) cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
1  (28-ounce) can no-salt-added whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped
6  cups  escarole, torn into 1-inch pieces

1  cup  cilantro leaves
1/4  cup  mint leaves
1/2  cup  roasted whole almonds, coarsely chopped
4  cups  hot cooked bulgur or couscous

Preparation

1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add garlic; cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove garlic from pan using a slotted spoon; discard or reserve for another use. Add onion and next 6 ingredients (through cinnamon stick) to pan; sauté for 7 minutes or until the onion is lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Add 1/2 cup water, rind, juice, chickpeas, and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Stir in escarole; simmer for 1 minute or until escarole wilts. Remove from heat. Sprinkle with cilantro and mint; top with almonds. Serve over couscous.

Moroccan Carrot Salad

(Bon Appetit)

Ingredients

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
Pinch of ground cloves
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup fresh orange juice

3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

1 pound carrots, peeled, coarsely grated
4 cups mixed baby greens
1 small sweet onion, thinly sliced

Preparation

Whisk first 7 ingredients in large bowl. Whisk in oil, lemon juice, orange juice, and mint. Add carrots and baby greens; toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Top with onion and serve. Adapted from Taste.