This healthy, simple and delicious carrot salad comes from Farida’s Azerbaijani Cookbook. Oriental cuisine has lots of wonderful recipes and this is one of them. It's great for any kind of diet as there's neither mayonnaise nor any other fat sauce used.
And regarding carrots - this really tasty root vegetable has been found to reduce the risk of cancer. Isn't it a good enough reason to eat more carrots?
Carrot Spicy Salad
Ingredients
4 medium carrots, peeled 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 cup plain yogurt 3 gloves garlic, peeled and crushed 1 teaspoon golden raisins (optional) salt, to taste ground black pepper, to taste parsley sprigs and black olives, to garnish
1. Grate the carrots using the coarse side of a box grater.
2. In a medium non-stick frying pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the carrots and fry, stirring frequently, for about 7-10 minutes, or until cooked. Do not overcook: they should be soft but not mushy. I usually prefer them a little undercooked, for a fresher taste. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
3. In a mixing bowl, combine yogurt and garlic, and mix well. Add carrots, raisins. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.
4. Serve chilled, garnished with black olives and parsley.
This Sweet Potato soup is soooo yummy but not overloaded with calories. It's an ultimate winter food but I like it so much that would definitely eat it all the year round. This specific recipe of soup makes a perfect match for the Orange Wednesday as it contains sweet potatoes, a pumpkin and carrots.
Ingredients:
2 sweet potatoes 2 cups of pumpkin 2 carrots 1 celery root 1 large chopped onion 3 sliced cloves of Garlic Chicken stock Some fresh thyme 1/2 a cup of rose wine. 1/2 a cup of cream (15% fat) 1/2 tsp of nutmeg Salt and pepper to taste 2 tbsp of oil olive
Directions:
Peel the sweet potatoes, the carrots and the pumpkin, and slice into large cubes.
Fry the onion in a pot with some olive oil until it gets yellow.
Add the garlic and the celery root, and keep frying for 1 minute.
Add the carrots, the sweet potatoes and the pumpkin, and keep stirring for 3 minutes.
Add some fresh thyme, the chicken stock and the wine, just enough to cover the vegetables, and bring to a boil.
Low the fire to medium hit, and cook for 40 minutes until the vegetables are soft.
Remove the pot from the fire, fish out the thyme and blend with a hand blender until you get a smooth cream.
Return the pot to the stove, add the cream, the nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste.
Cook for 5 more minutes.
Serve hot and garnish with some fresh thyme, a few drops of olive oil and a splash of pepper and nutmeg.
This Black Beans Soup recipe is the first in the Black Tuesday menu. It's especially comforting when the weather is cold.
Ingredients
250 g black beans, rinsed and soaked in the cold water for 12 hours
2 tbsp olive oil
1.5 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 dried chili pepper, peeled and sliced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 celery stick, finely chopped
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp lemon juice
Yogurt or sour cream and parsley for garnish
Directions
In a large saucepan heat the olive oil, add onions and saute until golden. Add garlic, chili pepper, carrots, celery and stir. Pour in the broth, add beans and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes. Season with cumin, oregano, salt and pepper. Reduce heat, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender, about 1 1/4 hours. Put a half of the soup to a blender. Puree until smooth and return to the saucepan, mix well. Add the lemon juice and adjust seasonings. (If the soup looks too thick add some water to desired consistency).
Top each serving with a sour cream or a yogurt and a parsley.
