Recipes : Carrot

Fabulous Fall Roots Soup

Submitted by Kathleen Haines
Adapted from The Splendid Table
Fabulous Fall Roots Soup

Ingredients:

  • 3-5 leeks or 2-3 large onions
  • about 1.5 lbs. carrots
  • 2 turnips or large potatoes
  • olive oil
  • 6-8 cups stock, chicken or veggie
  • 1-2 cups creme fraiche

Make It:

I made this with leeks, carrots, and turnips, since those were what I had on hand, but it would adapt very easily to almost any combination of root veggies, white and/or sweet potatoes, and some type of onion.

Wash, peel, and cut the veggies into pieces that are somewhat uniform in size.  Toss with some olive oil and roast in a large roasting pan at 425 degrees, until they start to soften and caramelize.  Turn the veggies about every 10 minutes.  The leeks/onions will take about 20-30 minutes, the turnips/potatoes about 40 minutes, and the carrots about 45-60 minutes.  (All the measurements are approximate.  My roasting pan was filled, with about 2/3 carrots and 1/3 each leeks and turnips.)

As the veggies finish roasting take them out and put them in a soup pot.  When they are all in the pot, cover with stock and bring to a simmer, then simmer for about 30 minutes or until the veggies are all tender.  Puree with an immersion blender or in a blender or food processor.  Whisk in about 3/4 cup creme fraiche.  Season with salt and pepper.

To serve the soup, ladle into individual bowls, and put a spoonful of the remaining creme fraiche on top.  

I think Vermont Butter and Cheese makes creme fraiche, or you can make your own with Butterworks Farm heavy cream and cultured buttermilk:  Heat 2 cups heavy cream and 1-2 tablespoons cultured buttermilk to 85 degrees, pour into a glass jar, partially cover and leave at room temperature for 8-24 hours, until thickened.  Stir and refrigerate for another 24 hours before using.  It will keep for about 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

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Moroccan Carrot Slaw

Submitted by Maryellen
Adapted from Lorna Sass' Short Cut Vegetarian
Moroccan Carrot Slaw

Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1-2 small cloves garlic
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 15 leafy sprigs cilantro, stems removed
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin
  • 4-5 large carrots, scrubbed
  • 1/4 cup currants

Make It:

Chop garlic fine in food processor bowl. Add oil, lemon juice, cilantro (I like to save out a sprig for garnish), cumin, blend. Pour dressing into a large bowl.

Shred the carrots finely, Toss carrots and currants in the dressing until all mixed. Serve and enjoy.

This is one of our family all time favorites. It’s really great for pot lucks. Last year, I got specifically asked to bring it again to Town Meeting. You can substitute parsley for the cilantro or raisins for the currants, but we like it the regular way best.

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Simple Carrot Salad

Submitted by Maryellen
Adapted from Alice Waters, the Art of Simple Food

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound carrots
  • 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • salt and pepper
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Make It:

This time of year I'm often still too disorganized to get together the ingredients for the Moroccan carrot slaw, which I totally adore.  These ingredients I'm more likely to have on hand.  So it's definitely more simple, but this time of year the frost kissed carrots are so sweet that simple is good.  One other note is that I think it's worth dirtying the food processor for this recipe because I can grate the carrots, whirl the dressing, and chop the parsley in it.

Grate the carrots.  I like them fine, but its a matter of taste.  Whisk together the dressing and toss with the carrots.  Chop the parsley and toss into the dressed carrots.  Let stand for 10 minutes.  Taste and add more lemon, salt, or oil, as needed. 

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Zoe's Carrot Souffle

Submitted by Zoe
Zoe's Carrot Souffle

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 lbs** Old Shaw Farm carrots, sliced
  • 1-2 tbl. butter
  • 3 Second Chance Farm eggs (if available)
  • 1/4 cup Butterworks Farm flour (I use white, but you could probably use whole wheat pastry flour or whatever you've got)
  • 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/4 cup of sugar
  • 1/2 tbl. vanilla

Make It:

Steam carrots until tender. Drain and process in food processor or blender with all the other ingredients until smooth. Spoon into a lightly greased baking dish (or soufflé dishes or other casserole)

Bake at 350 for one hour or until set and lightly browned. Serve immediately. Makes great leftovers for breakfast or lunch the next day.

** Zoe’s recipe calls for 3 pounds carrots. Since there are a pound and a half of carrots in this week’s basket, I halved the recipe to fit. You may need to also cut down on the cooking time.

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Asian slaw

Adapted from This is an amalgamation of recipes from the Candle Café Cookbook and our friend and CSAer Sarah Frederick!

Ingredients:

  • ½ head cabbage, shredded
  • 1 cup shredded carrots
  • 3 tablespoons rice vinegar (or lemon or lime juice)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • optional additions: chopped peanuts, toasted sesame seeds, chopped fresh cayenne pepper, avocado, fresh grated ginger, garlic, chopped onion, cilantro

Make It:

Mix the dressing: the vinegar, oils, soy sauce, honey. Toss with cabbage and carrots. Add any additions you have and like. Enjoy!

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Colonial Carrot Pie

Adapted from Edible Heirloom Garden by Rosalind Creasy
Colonial Carrot Pie

Ingredients:

  • 1¼ pound carrots (there are 2 ½ pounds in the basket this week)
  • ¾ cup white sugar
  • 1 cup milk
  • ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 unbaked 9 inch pie shell.

Make It:

Slice the carrots and steam till very tender.

Heat the oven to 425º.

Puree the carrots in a blender or food processor until very smooth. Add some of the milk now if you need to for the carrots to be smooth. Add everything else and blend until smooth and evenly mixed (you might have to do two batches). Put into the pie shell and bake for 15 minutes, then turn down the oven to 350º and bake for another 45 minutes or until set. Cool before slicing.

This recipe reminds me of Zoë’s excellent carrot souffle (on the blog at October 5, 2005). It is also not unlike pumpkin pie.

The recipe is based on one in the Edible Heirloom Garden by Rosalind Creasy. She says that in Colonial days, carrot pies and similar vegetable pies were eaten at lunch or supper, not as dessert. Waverly made herself a kid sized carrot pie and loved it for lunch. It would be great at dessert with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

I made this with a whole wheat crust from Laurel’s Kitchen. Cornelia says the pie is too delicate for the whole wheat crust, that it really needs a white flour crust. Peter said it was good but too cinnamony, so I wrote in reduced it to ¾ teaspoon.

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Velvety Carrot and Ginger Soup

Adapted from Candle Cafe Cookbook.
Velvety Carrot and Ginger Soup

Ingredients:

  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 3 red onions, coarsely chopped
  • 5 cups chicken broth
  • 6 large carrots, diced
  • 3 tablespoons grated fresh ginger root
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • a pinch hot pepper (I used 1/2 tsp on frozen hot pepper puree I had left over from salsa making last summer, but cayenne would work or whatever)
  • 1/2 cup tomato puree
  • sour cream for garnish
  • parsley (I used because the store was out of cilantro, which I think would've been better)

Make It:

Saute the onions in the butter for about 5 minutes, until softened. Add 2 cups of the broth, the carrots, the tomato puree, hot pepper, and 2 tablespoons of the ginger. Simmer for about 20 minutes until the carrots are tender. Let soup cool for about an hour.

Blend the soup with the remaining ginger, cinnamon, coriander, and broth until very smooth. I just added enough broth to be able to blend it and then added the rest to the blended soup until I had the consistency I liked. This also meant less volume to actually blend.

Reheat gently, add salt and pepper to taste, and serve with sour cream and parsley.

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Carrot and Potato Sauté

Submitted by Robyn and Tim

Ingredients:

  • 2 large Onions
  • 4 Medium Potatoes
  • Equal amount Carrots
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • Sea Salt
  • Fresh Ground Pepper
  • Parsley
  • Sour Cream

Make It:

Chop onions. In large fry pan, stir fry onions in butter, add salt and pepper (generous amount). Let brown slightly (4-5 minutes). Meanwhile, thinly slice potatoes and carrots. Add to pan with 1/8 inch water. Cook 20 minutes (or until potatoes are soft) stirring occasionally so pan does not burn. Serve with spoonful sour cream, fresh ground pepper, and chopped parsley.

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Carrot Soup

Submitted by Carolynne Achilles

Ingredients:

  • 1 small onion finely chopped
  • 3 C. carrots peeled and coarsely chopped
  • 4-6 T. butter
  • 3 C. chicken stock
  • 1 1/2 C. heavy cream or milk
  • 2 t. curry powder
  • salt and pepper to taste

Make It:

Melt butter in large saucepan. Saute onions 5 minutes until transparent, then add the carrots. Cook for 5 more minutes and add stock. Cook another 20 minutes or until carrots are tender. Puree in the blender or if you want a very velvety texture, put through a strainer. Return the soup to the pan and whisk in milk or cream. Add seasonings and taste.

Garnish with creme fraiche and chopped parsley.

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