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Wednesday, September 12, 2012

For the Love of Carrots!


Organic Heirloom Carrots

To me, the most soulful, life affirming gardens are those that have a sense of poetry about them. The brilliant red-orange Chantenay Royal, the deep orange Bambino, the bright red Nantes Scarlet, the purple Cosmic  - all poetic names of various heirloom carrots. But the Autumn King, is King of Fall and Winter! An imperator with long, bright roots, a broad shoulder and a crisp, light flavor. 



The Autumn King is what I’ll be harvesting in just a few short weeks just in time to make soups to store and enjoy over those cold winter months. Of course we’ll enjoy many of these fresh picked carrots in their raw form before preserving soups and storing many in a box covered in dirt in our dark, cold basement.



Until then, I will be planting carrot seed in pots to grow over the winter months to harvest by mid Spring. Hoping I can keep them thriving all winter, can’t wait to find out!

Happy Healthy harvesting from my family to yours,
Sherri.


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Sherri’s Eye-mazing Cold Weather Soup
(Eye-mazing because it’s packed with vitamin A which is great for vision)



INGREDIENTS
1 large onion, sliced
4 tablespoons grapeseed oil
1 ½ lbs carrots peeled and sliced into coins
½ head cauliflower (or throw in the whole head if you so desire) 
2 large potatoes peeled and cut into ½ inch pieces
½ cup celery sliced
16 oz vegetable stock- homemade or low sodium variety
salt and pepper to taste

Garnish 
1/4 cup basil leaves, loosely packed
¼ cup grapeseed or olive oil
sea salt


INSTRUCTIONS 
Cook onions and grapeseed oil over medium low heat until well-caramelized and a dark golden brown, stirring infrequently (about 25-30 minutes)
Add carrots, potato, cauliflower and celery and cook for another 10 minutes, tossing well to coat with grapeseed oil and onions.
Add vegetable stock, turn heat to medium high, and bring to a rapid boil. Cook until vegetables are very tender almost falling apart- about 20 minutes.
Blend with a blender until completely smooth.
Season with salt and pepper and serve with basil oil (recipe follows).

BASIL OIL INSTRUCTIONS
(Prepare while the soup is cooking so it has time to steep)
Finely chop parsley in food processor until it is very tiny.
Add grapeseed or olive oil and give it a little whirl
When ready to serve, add one teaspoon (or less or more, whichever suits your fancy) of the oil to the prepared soup in bowls and enjoy!


Sherri.

2 comments:

Murse Student said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

There is just some taste that carrots have when you pull them out of the ground at home, wash off the dirt with the hose and eat them right there.