What's for Dinner? Part 2.

As I sat watching 'Chopped' last night with my roommate, I realized I could probably watch Cooking Shows all day long.  No joke.  I find them fascinating.  I love being creative with my food and what I make, and I get inspired by these chefs coming up with $10 Dinners, 30 Minute Meals, and Restaurant Chef Secrets.

It inspired me to create a meal based off one of the shows!  While I really want to try a Gnocchi from scratch, that's best suited for another day, because as I'm getting over a cold, Soup sounds perfect and delicious!  

Carrot Soup has been one of my favorites ever since I first had it a couple years ago.  Both my Grandma's used to make soup that I would help with.  Grandma Jacoby would make Bean Soup in a creamy broth, and I would pick beans from her own garden, and cut them before she would get started on everything.  Grandma Wegner would make Rainbow Chicken Soup, and I'd be helping her put the ingredients together, mix everything up and see how beautiful it was when it was finished.  While both are amazing, Carrot Soup is perfection.  

I decided on a Carrot Orange Ginger Soup and went on a hunt at the Grocery Store to get all the ingredients I needed...carrots, oranges, chicken broth, ginger root, etc.  I also decided to do this Banana Dessert I had seen on $10 dinners so I picked up everything for that as well.  I've never made a Soup on my own before, so this was really exciting, and since this isn't your typical Soup, and I was going to do my own take on it, I was a little nervous.

Here are the ingredients needed for tonight's 'What's For Dinner?'
Carrot Soup
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 pound of Carrots
1 Onion
1 Orange (and the Zest of the Orange)
3 Garlic Cloves
1 Piece of Ginger
1/4 Cup White Wine
1 Bay Leaf (or a 1/2 tsp)
3 Cups Chicken Stock
Salt & Pepper
4 tbsp Sour Cream

Banana's & Sweet Cream (based off a Recipe from $10 Dinners by Melissa D'Arabian)
2 tbsp Butter
4 Banana's
1 Orange (and the Zest of the Orange)
2 tbsp Sugar
Salt
4 tbsp Sour Cream
2 tbsp Brown Sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Look at that color!!

For the Carrot Soup, heat olive oil in a big pot, then add in your carrots (peel and rough chop, I cut them in quarters) and your onion, also roughly chopped.  Let them sweat and soften for about 5 minutes.  While you're doing that, get your garlic, ginger, and orange zest together.  I zested one orange using my multi-grater, a zester is preferred.  PLEASE be careful when using a grater, I kept tapping the grater with the palm of my hand and actually cut myself because it's so sharp (duh, it grates vegetables and cheese, I don't know what I was thinking using my hand.)  Then I juiced the orange for later.  The ginger root was an interesting ingredient.  I absolutely love ginger so I wanted that zing in my soup.  When buying ginger root, look for one that is smooth, unblemished and almost see-through.  You don't want moldy ginger.  Clean the ginger and peel the skin, then I cut it into cubes.  Once the vegetables have started to sweat add your garlic, orange zest, and half your ginger (you'll want to add the other half to the blender when you're blending for a fuller flavor).  After a minute or two, the wonderful scents should be coming through and add your white wine (I used a pinot grigio) to de-glaze the pot.  Then add in the chicken stock, your bay leaf and bring that to a boil.  After it's boiling, lower the heat and simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes or until the vegetables are soft and tender, while stirring occasionally.  Next, you'll need a Blender or Food Processor, so once your vegetables are tender, let the mixture cool for 5 minutes, then blend or process your soup along with the rest of your ginger in thirds until smooth.  Once you've blended the whole pot put back on stove and heat adding in the orange juice, salt and pepper to taste.  Serve with a dollop of sour cream.  This recipe made 4 bowls.  It was a hearty, healthy, sweet and tasty Soup that I was really proud of!
*Tip: This soup can also be served cold!

I turned my flash off so you could better see the texture :)

Before I started the Banana Dessert I made the Sweet Cream.  I used 4 tablespoons of Reduced Fat Sour Cream, added in the brown sugar, cinnamon and the zest of another orange.  I mixed that well and put that into the fridge to keep cool while I heated a pan and used one tablespoon of margarine and a tablespoon of cinnamon margarine.  I cut the banana's in half lengthwise and crosswise.  Once the butter was melting I added the banana's in and started sauteing them until they caramelized.   I juiced another orange and added that to the pan along with the sugar and salt, let that cook for another 2 minutes until the banana's were browned and soft, and the sugar and orange juice had formed a glaze.  I served the banana's on a plate with a dollop of the sweet cream.  It made a whole lot of dessert but I would make more of the sweet cream because it wasn't enough for all the leftover banana's.  It was a really quick and easy dessert that was awesome.  I would never have guessed that the sour cream could be put into a dessert but it was awesome and paired perfectly with the banana's.

All in all, I was really proud of my meal, the Soup from scratch, and trying something new.  I know both my Grandma's would be really proud of me :)