Indulge in this deliciously simple and oh-so-comforting carrot souffle recipe.

In a season of all things orange, it’s only natural to keep up with the autumn theme. This carrot souffle recipe is as easy and straightforward as it gets. It makes good use of root vegetables and complements their inherent earthiness with creamy textures and spicy overtones.

The stars of the show are the carrots and parsnips, so in order to truly enjoy this dish, it’s important to source your vegetables from the purest and most honest place possible – think: organic and local. I oftentimes find conventional, non-local carrots to taste super bland. It didn’t bother me until I started getting my carrots from a local farm, and the taste was so different, I couldn’t go back to my old produce-purchasing ways. This rule goes for all the ingredients in this carrot souffle recipe’s list. Use organic milk from grass-fed cows, a grass-fed raw goat variety of cheddar cheese, and pasture eggs. The dish tastes that much better when you know you’ve put in extra thought and intention into it.

Carrot Souffle Recipe

Serves 8

Ingredients

• 1 pound carrots, sliced into ½-inch rounds
• 1 pound parsnips, sliced into ½-inch rounds
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup gluten-free cracker crumbs
• ¾ cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 3 large eggs

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9×13-inch baking dish with butter. Set aside.

In a saucepan over high heat, add carrots, parsnips, and water that rises an inch up the side of the pan. Add one teaspoon of salt and stir. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Let simmer for about 10-15 minutes, or until the carrots and parsnips are tender. Strain the mixture and transfer the carrots and parsnips to a food processor or high-speed blender. Blend until smooth.

Transfer the carrot and parsnip puree to a bowl. Slowly whisk in the milk. Fold in the cracker crumbs, grated cheese, onion, butter, remaining salt, cayenne, cinnamon, and black pepper.

In a separate, smaller bowl, whisk the eggs until frothy. Once frothy, fold them into the carrot and parsnip puree. Pour the mixture into the greased baking dish. Use a spatula to spread the top of the souffle evenly before popping the baking dish into the oven. Bake for 40-45 minutes until lightly golden.

Related on EcoSalon
Easy Thanksgiving Squash Soufflé
Crispy Baked Carrot Chips Recipe
4 Types of Fruits and Vegetables Better For You Cooked than Raw

Carrot Souffle Image from Shutterstock

The post Carrot Souffle Recipe: The Root Vegetable at Its Finest (and Creamiest!) appeared first on EcoSalon.

What’s up, Doc? How about healthy snacking on delicious baked carrot chips?

Carrot chips are the newest addition to my baked-chip family. They’re much smaller than, say, sweet potato chips, but still have a crispy bite with a rooty texture. This recipe is as straightforward as it gets — you’re just three ingredients away from a healthy, guilt-free snack.

Carrots not only provide you with a hearty vegetable chip-worthy experience but also with quite a few nutrients. Carrots contain a a compound, almost exclusive to the vegetable, called falcarinol, which is a cancer preventative. The root veggie also improves vision with its high vitamin A and beta-carotene content, prevents heart disease with its carotenoids, lowers blood cholesterol levels, reduces the risk of stroke, nourishes the skin, helps slow the process of aging, and contributes to dental health.

Start chipping away!

Crispy Baked Carrot Chips

Ingredients

• 3-4 large carrots
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Salt to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Slice the carrots into thin, although not transparent, circular pieces.

Toss in olive oil and using hands, make sure that each piece is covered evenly. Lay out the sliced carrot on a baking sheet so that each has its own place. This will ensure that they cook evenly and have room to bake to a crisp.

Pop them into the oven for 15-20 minutes, but keep an eye out, because depending on how thick you cut the carrots, the cooking time will be different. Once the carrots begin to brown slightly and curl up is when they are ready. You don’t want to burn them, just to notice a slight discoloration.

Allow the carrot chips to cool before serving. Eat them plain or try serving with a homemade dip.

 Photo Credit: GlowKitchen

 Aylin Erman currently resides in Istanbul and is creator of plant-based recipe website GlowKitchen.

The post Snack Away with this Crispy Baked Carrot Chips Recipe appeared first on EcoSalon.

I’m not usually a big eater of carrots for the sake of eating carrots. Normally I put them in soups and stews but rarely do I make a carrot dish. Not sure why.

Don’t me wrong, I like them, especially when they are fresh and sweet and flavorful as they are when pulled out of the ground. They just never seem terribly exciting compared to the usual bounty we get around here.

Last week, the carrots at the farmers’ market looked so inviting that I had to pick up a bunch. Then, my roommate’s CSA box came with even more gorgeous carrots. Suddenly I found myself with quite a lot of carrots to prepare. Luckily I found this carrot salad with harissa, feta, and mint on Smitten Kitchen. It sounds utterly addictive. I can think of about a million ways to eat it – on a picnic, tucked into a sandwich on a roll, alongside lamb burgers, or over a bed of greens.

Remember last week, I mentioned I was going to save my duck fat for roasting potatoes? Well I did render and save about 1/3 of a cup of duck fat from the duck I cooked over the weekend. This recipe for Spanish Roasted Potato Salad from Food 52 seems like another perfect excuse to use it. Easy and impressive sounding. This one calls for olive oil, but duck fat can never hurt.

The cherries have been great this year and I’ve eaten so many that I’m now ready to actually consider doing something with them – other than popping one after another in my mouth. Here’s a savory take on cherry compote from Simply Recipes to try.

Happy Cooking!

Image: Stevendepolo

The post 3 Scrumptious Recipes to Try This Weekend appeared first on EcoSalon.