Delicious Orangy Goodness

In my attempt to eat more healthfully, watch my budget AND cook new recipes in this new year, I cracked open one of my forgotten cookbooks. The Best 30 Minute Recipe is published by the fastidious folks from Cook’s Illustrated, so you know the methods are sound and flavors full. Really, my only gripe with Cook’s has been that many of their recipes are too involved and tedious, forsaking time for taste. Not so with this collection. The only problem I have with this cookbook is that the 30 minute chicken stew recipes involve partially cooking the chicken in the microwave. Grossness. I will gladly tack an extra 20 minutes onto the cooking time to avoid the sin of microwaving meat.

Anyway, there are lots of recipes that sound promising, such as Caldo Verde or Ravioli with Butternut and Sage. Later this week I’m making Tamale Pie. Simplest thing in the world, I know, but what sounds better than chili and cornbread on a cold night?

And yesterday, I made Carrot Ginger Soup. I only had to purchase three ingredients, everything else I had on hand. That’s my kind of soup. The plan is to eat it with a salad and hunk of hearty bread for lunch this week. My only substitution was skim milk for whole milk. I’m not buying whole milk for one recipe.

Weekly New Recipe #1 = success.

Carrot Ginger Soup

3 cups low sodium chicken stock
1.5 lbs carrots, chopped coarse
2 Tbsp butter
1 onion, chopped
2 Tbsp grated ginger
Salt and pepper
.75 cup whole milk (I subbed .5 cup skim milk + .25 cup light sour cream)
.25 cup orange juice

Bring stock and carrots to a boil in a covered saucepan, reduce heat and set aside. In a Dutch oven or similar soup-making device, sauté onion in the butter over medium heat until soft, about 5 minutes. Add ginger and cook until fragrant, about a minute. Add broth and carrots to the onions. Season with salt and pepper and simmer for 15 minutes or until carrots are tender. Puree soup with an emulsion blender or in batches in a traditional blender. The emulsion blender yields a chunkier, more “rustic” soup, but it is +10 easier and -10 messier, so that’s what I used. After the soup is smoothified, add the milk and OJ. Season to taste, serve with chopped chives if you’re feeling fancy.