I joined a CSA this month in an attempt to increase my fruit and vegetable intake. It's working. I get a Rubbermaid bin full of produce every two weeks, then it's a race to use it all up in the right order so as to minimize spoilage. In my first bin, I got oranges and a grapefruit, an apple, two pears, a bunch of arugula, a head of Bibb lettuce, the biggest onion I've ever seen in my life, Jerusalem artichokes, potatoes, carrots, and two golden beets. I got through the fruit okay and used most of the greens. The huge onion, potatoes, and arugula went into a vat of ham and bean soup. I didn't know what to do with the Jerusalem artichokes and was warned that some people have a rather... erm... explosive reaction to them, so I cautiously sliced a few into some tuna salad and no harm was done. That left the carrots and beets. I thought those would have a longer shelf life, but by Friday night they were a little too mushy to be enjoyed raw or roasted. With nothing to lose, I decided to experiment with some carrot soup. Plain text pasted from the website, italics are my notes.
Carrot Soup from the 1977 edition of Moosewood Cookbook
2 pounds peeled or scrubbed, chopped carrots
4 cups stock or water - I had 2 cups of beef broth leftover, so I used that + 2 cups of water. I'm pretty sure using beef broth would get me kicked out of Moosewood. Sorry about that.
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 medium potato, chopped (optional, for heartier soup) - I used the golden beets. They were smallish.
3-4 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped onion
1-2 small cloves crushed garlic
1/3 cup chopped cashews or almonds - I didn't have any cashews. I did have almonds but opted for dry roasted peanuts instead.
Choose one - Choices! Love it!:
1 cup milk
1 cup yogurt or buttermilk plus a little honey
1/2 pint heavy cream
3/4 cup sour cream
The only real dairy in my fridge was strawberry yogurt, but I had some buttermilk powder I normally use for baking. I threw in 4 Tablespoons of that plus an extra cup of water.
Seasoning choices - Seriously, how great is this?:
-2 pinches of nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon dried mint, dash of cinnamon
-1 teaspoon each of thyme, marjoram and basil - Went with this one
-1 teaspoon grated ginger
Place carrots, liquid and salt (and potato or beet if you are using it) into a medium sized soup pot and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer it for 12-15 minutes. Let it cool to room temp.
Saute the onion, garlic and nuts in the butter until the onions are clear. You can sprinkle in a little salt to help draw the moisture out of the onions. Towards the end of cooking, stir in the seasoning combo of your choice.
Puree everything together in a blender until smooth (I deviate from her recipe at this stage. I dump the sauteed onions, garlic and nuts into the pot with the cooked carrots and use an immersion blender to puree. It saves dishes and energy - Yes it does. I heart my immersion blender.).
Whisk in one of the dairy products. As I mentioned in the beginning, I often leave this step out until I'm just about to eat a bowl of soup. I'll stir in a little milk, a spoonful of yogurt or some cottage cheese just before serving (and just after reheating, if I'm using the microwave).
Garnish with toasted nuts, some toasted bread crumbs or eat just as it is.
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I was amazed at how well this turned out, even with my crazy substitutions. I normally don't like carrot soup because it reminds me too much of baby food. It's the nuts and the seasonings that make this really good.
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10 comments:
I love Moosewood cookbook! I have not tried the carrot soup--brave soul!
I remember reading those Choose-Your-Own Adventure books as a kid. Always liked those!
Another point for the immersion blender... I might have to get one of those.
What's in the next shipment of random vegetables? You must be practicing for Iron Chef.
This week I have or have already eaten apples, pears, tangelos, a grapefruit, cauliflower, rainbow carrots, Bibb lettuce, collard greens, 2 yams, a red pepper, some crimini mushrooms, parsley and an avocado. I've been identifying avocadoes for years (sorry Andy) but those carrots were like nothing I'd ever seen. Like Skittles, only they're carrots!
You must be getting New Roots. Yum! I haven't cooked our Jerusalem artichokes yet, I think I'm going to scrub them and try baking them like potatoes.
That's right, Sarah :) They seem to be really popular here in our parts of town. I can't wait to try the quinoa recipe with the mushrooms and parsley.
Alison,
Root vegetables wither quickly when they are still attached to the greens. I bet that is what happened to your carrots and beets, as those items can usually last months on end otherwise and I usually see them come attached as a unit from organic farms. I guess the idea is that the greens continue to draw moisture from the roots and deplete them rather quickly.
I never thought of that, but I bet you're right. The carrots had beautiful greens attached. The beets were greenless when they arrived, but they also had a few iffy spots, and even so they didn't deteriorate as quickly as the carrots.
Next up is cauliflower. I hate cauliflower.
Carrot greens are edible, they say.
I hear ya on the cauliflower, but lately I've had some good experinces with it. My favorites:
Cauliflower & crab fried rice
Cauliflower cream soup (more like a puree)
The real trick is just getting it fresh... when it's right I can eat it raw and love it, but usually what you get is not up to par.
I'm a fan of steamed cauliflower with salt and pepper and a little butter, but I think it's a little better if you can bake it somehow. And if you can bread it it's amazing!
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