Thursday Night

For some reason Thursday nights are always long nights for me. They usually involve work and a couple after work activities. Maybe it's because the weekend is quickly approaching but it's not quite there yet. Whatever the reason, lately I don't feel much like cooking on Thursday nights. And while tonight it's no big deal since we're on vacation eating out every night, I thought I'd share with you one of my quick Thursday night dinners. It's a soup, so it's perfect for the fall weather that's upon us. It's quick, so it's perfect to throw together on a Thursday night. It's colorful so it's a great one for company.

I'm going through a carrot phase lately - not as bad as my mom's carrot diet which turned her feet orange, but I'm still using them a lot. And I had a carrot soup once that was to die for. While you don't normally think of a carrot soup as creamy, adding evaporated milk can turn any soup into a creamy concoction. Now if you've ever had carrot juice before you'll know it's a little on the sweet side. To counterbalance the sweet I used a trick I use when making carrots as a side dish. I little bit of ginger. The ginger and carrot together gives it a unique flavor, but also makes it more seasonal. And the color screams Autumn, right? What's more Autumnal than orange?

Carrot Soup

• 1/2 Tbs. olive oil
• 3 large carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
• 1 celery stalk, thinly sliced
• 1.5 Tbs. chopped celery leaves
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1 slice whole wheat sandwich bread, torn into bits
• 1/8 cup nonfat evaporated milk
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
  
• 1 Tbs. crushed ginger

1. In a large pan over medium heat, warm the oil. Add the carrots, onion, celery and celery leaves and sauté for 5 minutes.
2. Stir in the water, broth and bread. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until the carrots are tender, about 20 minutes.
4. Transfer the soup, in batches, if necessary, to a food processor and puree until smooth.
5. Return the soup to the saucepan and stir in the milk and green onions. Reheat for a moment over low heat, not letting the soup boil, then stir in the ginger. Ladle into individual bowls.

Serves 2.

Each serving has:

Calories		172.0
Total Fat		5.1 g
Cholesterol		0.6 mg
Sodium		261.2 mg
Potassium		571.7 mg
Total Carbohydrate		28.6 g
Protein		4.6 g