ehemm

It's really cold and wet today. We had three inches of rain yesterday. I have two more rose bushes to plant, but I don't think I'll do this today. This is a soup and salad day.

Here's a quick soup that I adapted from Rachel Ray. She used chicken broth and sour cream. I use vegetable stock and coconut milk.

Curried Carrot Soup 

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 pounds packaged baby carrots, from produce section
4 to 6 cups vegetable broth
1 tablespoon mild curry paste or 1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
Coarse salt
1 can low fat coconut milk
6 blades fresh chives, chopped fine

Preheat medium pot over medium high heat. Add olive oil, butter, onions and carrots and sauté 5 minutes. Add vegetable stock, coconut milk, curry and cayenne, and about 1 teaspoon salt to the pot. Bring to a boil, cover and cook until carrots are very tender, about 15 minutes. Using hand held blender puree the soup. If you don’t have one puree the soup in your blender or food processor in several batches. If the soup is too thick, add remaining stock, up to 2 cups, to achieve desired consistency. Adjust seasonings. Garnish with chives.

Hot Slaw

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
1 large head green cabbage, shredded
4 tablespoons chili powder
Kosher salt
1 (10-ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles (recommended: Ro-Tel)

Sauté cook onions and bell peppers in olive oil until limp, about 5 minutes. Add shredded cabbage and cook until limp, but not soft, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add chili powder and salt, to taste. Add tomatoes and simmer just until warmed through. Slaw should be slightly crisp. Adjust seasonings. Serve quickly.

This is an adaptation of a Paula Deen recipe that called for bacon, but you don’t need the bacon. I’m always looking for recipes that use Ro-Tel. We always keep several cans in the pantry.