Spiced Carrot Soup

  
I love love love soups, particularly in winter.  Paired with a big salad full of veggies, nuts, and tasty greens (spinach and arugula are my faves), it makes a warming, filling, and healthy meal.

If you've read this blog a few times you know that I always have a lot of pantry foods on hand, making soup-making a cinch whenever I have a few veggies kicking around.  This time I had carrots and celery on hand, and the rest was in my pantry and freezer (I keep sliced ginger in the freezer for soups and smoothies--so useful!).  I added a bit of this and a bit of that, and it became a darn good soup, if I do say so myself.  In addition to being a very healthy food, fresh ginger can actually be a bit spicy.  I used about 1½ tablespoons of roughly minced ginger, and there was some heat to this soup.  Use less if you prefer less kick, more for more.  While I didn't measure the stock, I think I used about 3 cups, which made a fairly thick soup, perfect when it's an entree.  More stock will make more (thinner) soup, better as a starter course.  

Boston Is In Lockdown. Carrot Cake, Anyone?

So Boston/Cambridge/Watertown/Surrounding areas are on lockdown.  I'm sure you know that.  

I was woken up shortly after 6am this morning with simultaneous texts from my roommate, who was stuck at Logan Airport, and from the Cambridge Police.  The police text said:

"This is the city of Cambridge. Do [sic] to the police investigation in Water Town [sic] and the surrounding area, MBTA."  

TOTALLY unhelpful, but by then I was wide awake, so I turned on my computer to learn more.  Good lord, things are CRAZY in this city right now.  From my kitchen window I saw MBTA buses full of police being transported while I was eating breakfast.  Otherwise there's been very little vehicular traffic and few people out along the river, which is usually packed with walkers, runners, and bikers.  With the exception of occasional sirens, my neighborhood is very quiet, much like the whole city.  After what seemed like a lot of activity this morning, mostly from various media outlets catching up on the night's activity, there's been little fresh news since late morning.  It's kind of crazy to think that a city can literally shut down, and people more or less respect the command to stay inside, but so far it's working.

One friend wrote on Facebook that it feels like "a scary, weird snow day in spring."  Which is true.  Can't go outside, no where to go, and nothing to do.  So clearly, that called for snow day amusement tactics, namely baking.  

Warm to the Bone Lentil Soup

After a relatively warm early December, winter has finally hit Cambridge, and nothing says "winter" like a big pot of soup.  (Although, as I write this, a mild warm front is moving in, but I'm not complaining about that.)  

Multiple Christmas parties left me with three ham hocks, which got me thinking about lentil soup.  I bookmarked the Barefoot Contessa's recipe a while back, and as a fan of all things Ina, I was eager to try it (especially after an unsolicited ringing endorsement from a friend).  It becomes a vegetarian recipe if you swap out chicken broth for vegetable stock, has a classic vegetable backbone, and uses French green lentils, which I had in my pantry and wanted to use up.  But since I had so much ham and even more lentils in my pantry--red ones--I turned to Google for further inspiration.  This led me to a blogger's Red Lentil and Ham Soup with an Indian spice flavor profile.  Realizing I had all the necessary spices in my ridiculously stocked pantry I ambitiously, and perhaps foolishly, decided to do both.  (Honestly, how much soup can a single girl eat?)

A Fresh Take On An Old School Recipe

Friends, I am going retro on you, in the form of shredded carrot salad.  I am OBSESSED right now!  Seriously, I made some in May when I was trying to use up food in fridge, and since then I've made it THREE more times, because I liked it so much.  I've been tweaking the recipe a bit, and I've come up with something I'm really happy with.  I'm sure I'm not the first one to come up with my particular combination of ingredients, particularly because there are only 5, but I'm pretty darn pleased with it.

So, other than the fun retro factor, carrot salad is great for all these reasons, in no particular order:  

1. It's super easy to make.
2. It's fairly quick to make (provided you have a food processor with a grating disk.  If you don't, you probably want to stop reading, because grating tons of carrots by hand is time consuming, annoying, and you're guaranteed to lose a fair bit of knuckle skin, and no one likes that.
3. It's cheap.  Which is good when you want to make a lot to feed your friends, or bring to a BBQ or a potluck.
4. The ingredients are in season year-round (in the grocery store, anyway),  so once you discover how great this, you can make it forever. 
5. It's actually quite healthy and surprisingly filling.
6. It's the perfect make-ahead dish because it actually tastes better after sitting for a day.  The carrots soften and sweeten slightly, the raisins soak up the dressing and get plump and juicy, and the shallot mellows and provides just the right amount of subtle onion flavor.  
7. It continues to keep really well in the fridge for a whole week up to two weeks.  (I'm doing an experiment to see how long it stays tasty, but I'm 12 days in and it tastes as good as day 2)
8. It can be eaten directly out of the tupperware and viola, instant lunch!  (Or dinner!)
9. It can be mixed with greens and viola, instant salad!

So many ways to eat it!  So many reasons to make it!

I was reminded of carrot salad when I uncovered my copy of Fanny at Chez Panisse, a kid-centric take on cooking at Chez Panisse, by Alice Waters.  Someone gave it to me when I was about 9 years old. (How did they know that food was my destiny?!)  The carrot salad in that cookbook is seasoned with garlic and parsley, and a simple oil and vinegar dressing--tres Francais!  American carrot salads often have a creamy mayonaise-based dressing, and incorporate a sweet, fruity component, like apples, raisins, or pineapple.  I have borrowed components of each type, nixing the chopped parsley (mostly because I always get it stuck in my teeth, which is awkward), keeping the vinaigrette because I prefer it to creamy dressings, incorporating raisins (or currants), and adding finely diced shallot or red onion.  Salt, pepper, and 24 hours in the fridge--you'll be shocked at how delicious this simple combination can be. 

Shredded Carrot Salad

Makes approximately 12 cups 

I've written the recipe to feed a crowd (or me for like, four meals).  However, it's easy to divide if you need to.  However, the leftovers are fantastic, so don't be scared to make a lot!

* 3 pounds of carrots, preferably organic (approximately 10 large carrots)

* 1 large shallot, finely diced, or about ½ cup of finely diced red onion

* 1 ¾ cups of raisins or currants.  I prefer brown raisins for contrast, but golden raisins are also fine

* 5 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

* 4 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

* 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt and 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, or to taste

1. Set up your food processor with the shredder disk. 

2. Scrub your carrots, peel them if you want (I don't, personally), and trim the ends.  Cut the carrots into lengths so that they will fit into the feed tube of the food processor horizontally (see picture below).  I like shredding them this way instead of feeding them vertically because you get longer shreds.

3. Dump the carrots in a large mixing bowl, along with the diced shallot and raisins.  Drizzle with the oil and vinegar, salt and pepper, and toss with your (clean) hands.  

4.  Cover with plastic wrap, or transfer to tupperware, and refrigerate overnight.  

5.  Before serving, taste for salt, pepper, and acidity, and adjust seasoning if necessary.  

Enjoy!!