Honey Mustard Carrots

Steamed carrots are delicious on their own, but I wanted to kick it up a notch. Honey mustard and carrots are two of Andrew's favorite things, so I combined them into one dish for him. I'm not sure if he ate any, I think I devoured them all before he had the chance :-)

Honey Mustard Carrots

Serves at least 6 as a side

• 1 lb. of carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 Tbsp. safflower oil
• 2 Tbsp. yellow mustard
• 1 1/2 tsp. local honey
• Dash of cinnamon

1. Steam the carrots until tender, about 10 minutes.
2. Transfer to a large bowl and mix in the remaining ingredients.
3. Serve immediately.

"Cream" of Carrot Soup

Check out the size of this sweet potato!

You wouldn't know it by glancing at the smooth, thick consistency of this soup, but there isn't actually any cream in here. The creamy consistency comes from sweet potato, which I used in place of heavy cream and milk in the original recipe. My inspiration for this soup came from the Hunger Games. As I mentioned in a previous post, I finished reading the trilogy and loved every word of it. One of my favorite parts of the books was the detail in which the food was discussed. The food was described with such depth, that it made me think about recreating the dishes myself. Apparently I wasn't the only one who noticed, since there was an article on Huffington Post with links to recipes similar to those described in the books. Following the link I found a delicious sounding carrot soup. I made some vegan substitutions and scaled down the water. Like I said before, the creaminess came from a sweet potato. A very large sweet potato. Seriously, I didn't think any sweet potato could get that big, let alone an organic one. It must have been about 4 cups once it was peeled and chopped. It did the trick though. The result: a comforting, filling soup that we can't get enough of.

"Cream" of Carrot Soup

Serves at least 6

• 3 Tbsp. oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 lbs. of carrots, sliced
• 1 extra large sweet potato, cubed
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 2 cups water
• 7 scallions, sliced
• 1 Tbsp. poppy seeds

1. In a large pot, sauté the onions until soft, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the carrots and sweet potato, followed by the vegetable broth and water. Add more water to just cover the potatoes and carrots if needed.
3. Cover and bring to a boil.
4. Uncover, lower the heat, and allow the soup to simmer until the carrots and potatoes are tender. About 30 minutes.
5. Add the white and pale green parts of the scallions and simmer for another 5 minutes.
6. Transfer the soup in batches to a blender and blend until smooth.
7. Add the poppy seeds and stir until combined.
8. Serve, and garnish with the rest of the scallions and a sprinkling on poppy seeds.

Roasted Garlic Soup

I clipped this recipe from a newspaper a few months ago. Garden of Eve, an organic farm on the north fork of Long Island, holds a garlic festival every September. The festival was coming up, and I was keeping my eye out for garlic themed recipes. I'm so glad I found this one! I love everything about garlic; its taste, smell, health benefits. Roasting the garlic, like you do in this soup, really enhances the flavor (and makes the house smell great!).

For weeks now I've been meaning to make a batch to keep in the freezer. This soup is perfect for colds, especially since garlic has antiviral and antibacterial properties. I don't know how effective garlic is once it's been roasted and once you're already sick, but the soup is at least comforting. I made a few substitutions, like oil for butter, to make it vegan. The original recipe called for heavy cream, but it's still rich and creamy (and much more healthy) without it.

When I made this yesterday morning, it took a lot of willpower not to eat a bowl right away. As much as I love garlic, I know not everyone does. I was going to a spin class and as a courtesy to the other spinners, I didn't want to be sweating garlic. What I'm getting at is, after eating this soup, you're probably going to stink. I didn't notice it last night after dinner since we all ate it, but when Logan had a bowl for lunch today he really reeked!

*The key to this recipe is roasting the garlic. To make it easier to extract the actual clove once it's roasted, cut off the top of two whole heads, exposing the cloves. Place the cut heads on a piece of tinfoil with a couple bay leaves. Drizzle with a couple tablespoons of olive oil, and wrap it up. Roast in the oven at 350º for 45 minutes.

When the 45 minutes is up, remove the foil packet from the oven and let it cool slightly. Over a bowl, squeeze the heads so that the cloves are released from the husk. 

The roasted garlic cloves in the bowl, and the husks on the foil.

Roasted Garlic Soup

Makes about 6 servings

• 2 heads of garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 2 medium yellow onions, chopped
• 1 large potato, diced
• 3 carrots, sliced
• 2 stalks of celery, diced
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Roast the garlic. See above for directions*
2. In a large pot, saute the onions in 2 Tbsp of oil until translucent, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients, including the roasted garlic, and mix well. 
4. Bring to a boil.
5. Lower heat and simmer covered until the potatoes and carrots are tender, about 30 minutes.
6. Transfer batches to a blender using a slotted spoon, and blend until smooth.

Irish Morning Juice

As delicious as they are, I'm getting a little tired of Bloody Nikkis. It's time to find a new juice. I started today by using an assortment of stuff in the fridge. Carrots were definitely getting juiced since I have way too many of them. I also have a lot of celery, since I'm trying to grow new stalks from the base of an old one. I heard you can propagate celery that way. I'll let you know how it goes.

Soak in a shallow dish of water.
This is as far as I got, since I forgot to plant it today.
I'll keep you posted on its growth.

To propagate from an existing stalk,
cut the stalks off just above the base.

Apples seemed like a good addition, and on a whim I threw the liquid part of the coconut milk I had leftover from making coconut whipped cream. this may have made the juice too sweet, so I won't be doing that again. Other than being sweet, it wasn't too bad. Leave the coconut milk out if you want to skip the sweetness.

I have a question for you juicers. When you juice an apple, do you core it first, or do you throw in the whole apple, seeds and all? I know some people include the seeds, but don't they naturally contain arsenic? That doesn't seem appetizing.

I'll be trying different juices until I find the perfect one, so juicers stay tuned!

Irish Morning Juice

Makes 2 servings

Before stirring, the green and orange reminded
me of the Irish flag, thus inspiring the name of this juice.

• 1 apple, cored
• 2 carrots
• 2 celery stalks
• A couple Tbsp coconut milk liquid

1. Juice.
2. Sip.
3. Enjoy.

Winter Butternut Soup

When Lewin Farms in Wading River closed the day before Thanksgiving, I stocked up on winter squash. I ended up with more butternut squash than I knew what to do with. I looked up some recipes and found a bunch of soups. There was no one soup in particular that jumped out at me, so I took inspiration from a few different ones. A few ingredient substitutions and cooking methods later, I turned out a rich, creamy, delicious soup. The ingredients are very basic, just veggies, broth and oil. The potato and squash puree so smoothly that heavy cream isn't necessary to make the soup rich. I made it again recently. It was the perfect meal for the frigid January weather we've been having and there
was plenty of leftovers for the next couple days.

Winter Butternut Soup

Serves about 6

• 3 Tbsp. olive oil
• 3 leeks, sliced (white and pale green parts only)
• One onion, chopped
• One sweet potato, peeled and cubed
• One large butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
• 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
• One apple, peeled, cored and sliced
• 1 quart of vegetable broth

1. Saute the leeks in olive oil until tender, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil.
3. Cover and reduce heat to medium low.
4. Simmer for about 20 minutes, until the potatoes and squash are tender.
5. Transfer in batches to a blender and puree until smooth.
6. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve warm.

Logan feeding himself a serving of his favorite soup.

Mom's Veggie Stew

I can't take credit for this one since I've never made it myself, but my mom has on several occasions. Last night being the most recent. For years now the family has been gathering for dinner almost every Friday night. Mom usually does the cooking for my dad, three brothers, Grandpa, Uncle Mark and cousin Liam. It's always a vegetarian dish since Grandpa is a vegetarian, and has been since he boycotted the meat market in the 70's. This particular Friday night she made a vegan dish to accommodate Logan, and to support my dietary changes. She's always been a very obliging chef, especially during my vegetarian phase that lasted three years.

This vegetable stew recipe came from a cook book that my mom has had since the 70's. It's called Vegetarian Gothic, and is full of meat free recipes and sayings about peace, love and all that other cliche hippie stuff.
 

It's been so used that the cover is missing, it's torn into two sections, and the pages are splotched with mystery food stains, but it's still a great cook book. The page displaying the veggie stew recipe is discolored and so with so many stains, adding even more character to the book.

Like me, mom never follows recipes exactly. She used oil instead of butter to make it vegan. The rosemary was omitted. I'm all for rosemary, but there's a time and a place for everything, and that herb does not have a place in this stew. Tamari was replaced with soy sauce, it's less viscous and more salty cousin. The dish came out perfect. It was thick, hearty and had a creamy texture. I can't think of a better meal for a chilly, windy night. This will definitely be made again in my own kitchen. I borrowed the cook book, so you can look forward to other recipe inspirations from it. So for our sisters and brothers, we wish you much joy (with this recipe).

Mom's Veggie Stew

Serves 12

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 large onion
• 2 green peppers, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 4 tomatoes, diced
• 1 sweet potato, cubed
• 2 yellow squash, chopped
• 2 cups brown rice
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 4 cups water

Saute the onions and green pepper in oil in a large dutch oven until tender.

Add the rest of the ingredients and cover.

Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes, until everything is tender.