Recipes to Keep You Warm

December has arrived and the weather has turned cooler.  For us that means 70's and 80's when the sun is shining and wool sweater weather once the sun sets.  For other volunteers in Morocco (living in the north or up in the Atlas mountains) this means a cold, snowy winter without central heating.  Here are two recipes to keep you warm this winter: Vegan Carrot Bread (there is nothing like a warm oven to heat up the kitchen) and Root Vegetable Soup (if it weren't for the chicken Knorr, this soup would be vegan too).  Enjoy!

Vegan Carrot Bread

Ingredients

• 1 cup carrot puree (steam carrots then puree in a food processor)
• 1 1/2 cups shredded carrots
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup soy milk (carrot juice or pineapple juice works well too)
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup dried fruit (raisins)
• 1 cup shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened, your choice)
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger (if you have)
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg (if you have)
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 cup oats (used for the topping)
  

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease your pan of choice:
1 bundt (1 hour 15 minutes)
2 loaf (50 minutes)
6 mini loaf (45 minutes)

Mix wet ingredients in a large bowl, and mix dry ingredients in another bowl. Slowly add dry ingredients into large bowl with wet ingredients. Stir. Spoon batter into prepared pan(s), sprinkle with 1/2 cup of remaining oats, bake for the amount next to each pan above, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in pans for about 15 minutes, then finish cooling on a wire rack. Store in an air tight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Baked loaves can be wrapped then frozen for up to a few months. Just thaw at room temperature for a few hours before eating.
Note:
This is a quick bread - which means it is slightly sweet.  It is not quite like carrot cake and is best enjoyed warm with butter. 

 Root Vegetable Soup

Ingredients
Veggies of your choice:

• 1 cup diced potato
• 1 cup diced carrot
• 1 cup diced turnip
• 1 cup diced squash or pumpkin (if including, add with the chickpeas since it cooks faster)
• 1 cup diced sweet potato

• 1 medium onion diced
• 4 cloves of garlic chopped
• 2 cups of chickpeas cooked
• Approx ¼ cup of Olive Oil
• Salt, Pepper, Cumin to taste (about 1 tsp each)
• Rosemary, Thyme, Oregano to taste (about 1 TBS each) - ground if possible
• 1 cube of Chicken Knorr
• 1 Bay Leaf
• Water
• 3 TBS of flour

Instructions

Heat olive oil in large pot and add onion, saute for about 5 min, then add garlic, veggies, and all spices. Cook, stirring, for about 5 min. Add water (enough to cover all veggies and 1 inch above veggie level) Knorr, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 10 min. Add cooked chickpeas (and squash/pumpkin), and simmer until veggies are tender. Remove 2 cups of liquid broth and add it to a small bowl. Add flour and whisk (this will thicken the soup when added). Put flour mixture and 2 cups of soup (with chunks of veggies) into a blender and puree. Add puree back into soup and stir. Enjoy. Usually serves about 6.

Rosemary, Thyme, Oregano, and Bay Leaf
are very important additions!