Roasted Carrots with Cumin Seeds

For the past few Easters we've gotten together with friends for an Indian-themed Easter pot-luck. This year I made tomato chicken curry and roasted carrots with cumin seeds as my contribution. The roasted carrots are quite easy and a nice complement to Indian food. I based the ingredients on this Bon Appetit recipe, but I looked to Cook's Illustrated for how to cook them. For my first batch I followed the Cook's Illustrated instructions, which involves covering the carrots with aluminum foil for the first 15 minutes in the oven and then roasting them after that. Since I was running out of time to make the second batch, I decided to try a short cut and pre-cook the carrots in the microwave before roasting them in the oven. Fortunately, that way turned out just as well.

Roasted Carrots with Cumin Seeds
serves 4 adults

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lb. baby carrots (1 small bag)
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt or kosher salt

Instructions:

Take the baby carrots out of the refrigerator and preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Rinse the carrots and dry them with a towel. If any of the carrots are thicker than your pinkie finger, cut them in half. Transfer the carrots to a medium-size bowl and pour the olive oil over them. Toss them with the olive oil and then sprinkle on the cumin seeds and black pepper. Toss the carrots again and spread them in a single layer on a baking sheet.

Cover the baking sheet tightly with aluminum foil and put the pan in the oven for 15 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake until the carrots are browned and tender, stirring them every 10 minutes. This will take about 20 to 30 minutes.

If you are pressed for time, move the tray to the upper-middle rack position and increase the temperature to 450. Then it should take less time, but check the carrots more frequently to avoid having some get charred. The other trick for reducing the preparation time is, while the oven is preheating, to microwave the oil-covered carrots until they are tender. Then stir in the cumin seeds and black pepper and roast the carrots uncovered on the upper-middle oven rack.

When the carrots are done, transfer them to a serving bowl, sprinkle on the salt, and gently toss. Serve immediately.

Egg-free Baked Oatmeal #2

This is my second version of egg-free baked oatmeal. It's not an improvement over the first version as much as the creation of a different flavor. Instead of using maple syrup, this recipe calls for brown sugar and applesauce. As you can see from the picture, I like to pour heated blueberries over mine. I just never seem to get tired of blueberries. Fortunately, the girls are happy to eat lots of blueberries, too, although for them it's almost as much because of the purple color as it is because of the taste.

Egg-free Baked Oatmeal #2
serves 4 adults

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups Bob's Red Mill gluten-free rolled oats.
  
• 1 1/3 cups almond milk. I use Blue Diamond brand because it has added calcium.
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• pinch of sea salt (no more than 1/8 tsp.)
• frozen wild blueberries, if desired

Instructions:

The night before, measure the oats into a small bowl. Warm the almond milk in the microwave and pour over the oats. Stir and cover the bowl with a plate.

In the morning preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Add the brown sugar, canola oil, applesauce, baking soda, cream of tartar, cinnamon, and salt to the bowl and stir until combined. If desired, stir 1/2 cup of frozen wild blueberries into the oat mixture. Pour the mixture into four 7-ounce ramekins. (If you don't add the blueberries, it's a little more than 1/2 cup per ramekin.) Place the ramekins in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the ramekins from the oven and let the oatmeal cool for a couple of minutes before serving. Slide a knife around the edge of the ramekins to loosen the oatmeal. Then gently shake each ramekin upside-down over a bowl to transfer the oatmeal.

You could also try baking the oat mixture into an 8"x8" Pyrex pan if you don't want to use ramekins. You may need to decrease the oven temperature and increase the baking time, but I'm not sure since I haven't tried baking the oatmeal this way.

Potato Cheddar Soup

This is a comforting soup, especially in the winter. I know it's not winter anymore, but we still have had some gray rainy days that qualify as soup days in my mind. Michael and I ate this soup a lot in our early married days, and I had missed it since needing to reduce our dairy intake. However, I've been doing some research and food tests, and the great news is that the girls and I can eat small amounts of extra-sharp Cheddar cheese.

Did you know that all cheeses are not created equal? Hard aged cheeses, like extra-sharp Cheddar, contain no lactose or whey. (It's best to buy the extra-sharp, not just sharp, Cheddar and to buy a brand like Cabot that says "no lactose" on the label. I've read that another clue is to look on the nutrition label to see if the cheese contains any sugar. If so, it still contains some lactose.) The only possibly troublesome milk ingredient left in the cheese is the casein, but since the girls tested negative for a milk allergy, I don't think the casein bothers them. Hooray!

Potato Cheddar Soup
serves 4 adults

Ingredients:

• 2 medium to large yellow onions
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper (or more if you like a bit more kick to your soup)
  
• 2 1/2 cups Imagine Organic chicken broth or Trader Joe's Organic chicken broth.
  
• 1 1/2 lb. potatoes. I recommend either Russet or Yukon Gold.
• 1 lightly packed cup (2 oz.) of shredded aged extra-sharp Cheddar cheese (This might be 2/3 cup if tightly packed). Do not buy pre-shredded cheese, which is coated with corn-products to prevent the cheese from clumping.
  

Instructions:

Place a medium-size pot over medium heat and pour in the olive oil. Finely chop the onions and add them to the pot. Saute the onions until they have softened. Add the black pepper and beef broth to the pot and increase the heat to high to bring the broth to a boil.

While the broth is heating, rinse and peel the potatoes. Then cut them into 1/4-inch cubes. When the broth has come to a boil, add the potatoes to the pot. Cover the pot with a lid and turn the heat down to medium or medium-low so that the liquid simmers. Cook the potatoes for 20 minutes, until they are soft. Remove the pot from the heat and mash the potatoes in the soup using a potato masher. Stir in the shredded cheese and serve.