Simple Recipes

1. Carrot and Ginger Soup with Lemon Herb Cream
2. Beef Stir Fry with Crispy Carrots
3. Moroccan Carrot Puree with Coriander and Cumin

Carrot and Ginger Soup with Lemon Herb Cream: Serves 4

Ingredients

Carrot and Ginger Soup:

• 600g of carrots peeled and chopped
• 2 medium onions, peeled and chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp powdered ginger
• 1 tsp medium curry powder
• 1 1/2 litres good stock, chicken or vegetable
• Sea salt and black pepper
• Pared rind of one lemon

Lemon herb cream:

• 1 x 200g crème fraîche
• finely grated rind of one lemon
• 2 tsp chopped parsley
• 2 tsp chopped chives

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan and add the onions and carrots, cook for several minutes, stirring from time to time. Do not brown the vegetables. Then add the garlic, ginger and curry powder and cook for a further minute. Add the stock and lemon strips to the pan, half cover the pan with its lid, and simmer gently for 20 minutes until the carrots are tender. Cool slightly, then liquidise the soup until smooth. Taste and season with sea salt and black pepper. Reheat to serve.

To make the cream, stir all the

Ingredients

together gently, or the crème fraîche will go runny, and then spoon a dollop into the middle of each bowl of soup, garnish with chives or parsley if you wish. Serve with wholemeal crusty bread.

Tips
This soup freezes well, the carrots give the soup a lovely sweetness, so children really like it. Good for part of the 5-a-day! It is quite a filling soup, so you could serve it for lunch as a snack meal with cheese and fruit afterwards

Beef Stir Fry with Crispy Carrots: Serves 4

Ingredients

• 450g rump beef
• 1 orange pepper, seeded
• 2 large carrots
• 1 red pepper, seeded
• 1 courgette
• 2 trimmed leeks
• Spring onions
• Root ginger
• 1 small onion
• Hoi sin and black bean sauce
• Vegetable and corn oil
• Garlic
• Salt and pepper

Directions

Peel carrots and cut in half lengthways. Place the flat surface on a chopping board and cut them into strips. Finely shred each piece, rinse in cold water and drain thoroughly, dry on kitchen paper. Cut the steak into thin strips, split the leeks in half lengthways and thickly slice at an angle, roughly chop the pepper and thinly slice the courgette, garlic, ginger and spring onion. Heat the oil in a preheated wok or large frying pan, fry the carrots until crisp and golden, remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.

Stir-fry the steak in the wok or frying pan until golden and cooked through, remove and drain on kitchen paper. Stir-fry the vegetable for about 10 minutes until golden and beginning to soften, but still with a bite, season the mixture well. Return the meat to the pan with the hoi sin and black bean sauce, stir fry for 2-3 minutes, or until piping hot, adjust the seasoning and serve with crisp carrots piled on top.

Moroccan Carrot Puree with Coriander and Cumin : Serves 4

Ingredients

• 8 carrots peeled and cut into 2cm chunks
• 100g butter
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 heaped tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 - 3 tbsp double cream
• Sea salt and black pepper

Directions

Boil the carrots in salted water for 20 minutes until soft. Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the cinnamon, cumin seeds and coriander. Gently fry the spices, stirring constantly for approx 1 minute. Puree the carrots with the butter and spice mixture. When nearly smooth add the double cream. Adjust seasoning and puree until smooth. If you do not have a food processor, mash the carrots.