Carotte Rapée

Few things say France to me like carott rapée. Kids eat it, adults eat it, maybe even the French feral street kittens eat it. It's that popular. The markets of France are always equipped with long bodied, green topped carrots (it's carotte in French) for the eatin'. This week while I was at the Common Market (returning some what I thought would be vegan nutella - which turned out to be crushed hazelnut butter that was all runny and gritty and tasted nothing like chocolate despite the label boasting that it was chocolate hazelnut spread) I saw these beautiful, vibrant red carrots. I didn't NEED them but I felt I NEEDED them. So they came home with me.


And then I was at a loss for what to do with them that would let them shine. And then I thought - if my time in France has taught me anything it's that a single vegetable can be considered a meal because.....well just because i guess. Pumpkin soup, beet salad, avocados eaten with a little balsamic vinegar, leek quiche, you get the idea.

Carotte Rapée can be made lots of different ways but in the end its all pretty similar and pretty darn simple



Carotte Rapée for 4

5 to 6 large carrots, peeled and then grated
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
2-3 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
salt and pepper

Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, and mustard until well combine. Pour over the grated carrots and mix well. Season with salt and pepper. Enjoy.



While the French will heartily chow down on this simple side with nothing but a fistful of bread, I have found that it also works well on sandwiches, on top of salads, and even thrown into a burrito or taco. Any way you choose to eat it, it's pretty great!

Coral Lentil and Split Pea Curry Soup

The idea for this soup came fully from Heidi over at 101 cookbook. But, as I am currently cleaning out my pantry in preparation for the big move back to America, I changed the recipe around to suit what I had and what I prefer. For sure though check out her recipe here.

So - Item # 4 and 5 for cleaning down the pantry are: coral lentils and split peas.

Lentil Split Pea Curry Soup

1 cup split peas
1 cup coral lentils
5 cups home-made veggie stock
2 cups water
2 carrots, peeled and sliced thin
2 tbsp ginger, peeled and sliced thin
2 tbsp curry powder
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 cup small portobello mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
1/3 cup tomato paste
14 oz coconut milk
2 tsp salt
fresh cilantro

1. Rinse the lentils and peas in a fine mesh strainer. Combine them with the water and the veg stock in a large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, add the carrots and a 1/4 of the ginger. Cover, simmer 30 minutes or until the peas are tender.
2. During this time heat a dry skillet on low heat and toast your curry powder. Set the curry aside in a bowl. In the same skillet heat the oil and add the onion and ginger and mushrooms. Sautee for 2 minutes, stirring, then add the tomato paste and simmer a few more minutes.
3. Add the curry to the tomato paste mixture then and when it is well incorporated, add the whole mix to the soup pot. Add the coconut milk and the salt. Simmer uncovered 20 minutes or until the soup thickens sufficiently.

Carrot Top Dressing

During the trip in Italy Katie and I got to talking about using your greens. Beet greens is what we discussed I think, but then I got back to France, salivating at just the thought of grocery shopping, and fell upon these pretty little carrots, avec greens. Well why not carrot greens? So I did some googling (and photoshooting as you can see) and came across a recipe posted a while back by the New York Times for a carrot top vinaigrette. Parfait.



Yeah they look scary but let me tell you the benefits! For one - carrot greens are packed with vitamin K - something you wont find in carrots themselves. Plus, when you buy carrots with their tops, you are cutting down on the amount of processing they go through (think saved energy plus less people and machines messing with your food) and you also know for sure that they are fresh. If you buy a bag of carrots already peeled, decapitated and washed..well you might get home to find some woody gross carrots in that bag. If you buy a bunch of green attached carrots you can't go wrong. If the greens are mushy or limp you know they aren't fresh. If they are vibrant and pretty - well what do you think?



Carrot Top Vinaigrette

1/3 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp chopped carrot top
pinch or two of salt

1. Put the olive oil, lemon juice and garlic in a blender or food processor. Blend until the ingredients are emulsified.
2. Add the carrot top and some salt and pulse until you have a creamy green sauce with tiny flecks of green leaf.
3. Taste - salt more if you like. Serve



Do note - carrot tops are a bit bitter, so pair it with things that perhaps are not - sweet red cabbage, avocados, beets, maybe strawberries?

Quinoa Cauliflower and Carrot Bisque

Another Soup Love inspired soup. I invited Nadia and Yohan over and we had a big dinner with Xavier and I tricked them all into eating vegan soup, mwahaha.

Enjoy

Quinoa Cauliflower Bisque

2 cups cooked quinoa
1 large cauliflower (2 pounds) cut into florets, stem discarded
4 cups veg broth
1 lemon
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
2 medium carrots
1 large yellow onion
3 tbs olive oil
5 cloves garlic
1 tsp herbs de Provence
2 ounces soy creme fraiche or goat cheese if you aren't vegan

1. Put the cauliflower in a soup pot with 2 cups of water and the veggie broth. Scrub the lemon and zest off a 1 inch strip of the yellow skin. Be careful not to get any of the bitter white part! Juice the lemon and then add 2 tbs of juice and the 1 inch strip to the pot and a tsp of salt. Boil. Lower the heat and simmer covered for 15 minutes. Remove the lemon zest and discard.
2. While your cauliflower is simmering, heat 2 tbs of olive oil in a skillet and sautee the carrot, onion and garlic with 1/2 a tsp of salt until the onion is soft and turning color, about 20 minutes. Add the herbs de Provence and sautee a few more minutes.
3. Add your sauteed veggies to the cauliflower and simmer for 15 more minutes or until the cauliflower and carrots are very soft. Let the soup cool slightly then puree it with an immersion blender or in a food processor. Add the quinoa. Taste and add salt or lemon juice as needed.
4. Top each bowl with a dollop of creme fraiche, olive oil, and bread crumbs. You can take soft bread and break it into pieces then toast it in olive oil in a sauce pot over medium heat until they are brown and hot.

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting (duh!)

The longest part of this process (aside from the baking) is the grating of the carrots. Don't buy the pre-shredded. I hear it doesn't work out so well.

Carrot Cake

4 eggs
1 1/4 cups veg oil
2 cups white sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tbsp baking soda
2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
3 cups grated carrots (about half a bag of carrots for me)

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 cake pan
2. In a large bowl beat the eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla together. Mix in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Stir in the carrots. Pour into the pan.
3. Bake 40-50 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes in the pan then put it on a rack.
4. Frost the crap out of it.