Vegetarian Recipe - Carrot Souffle

I promised I would post this recipe if it was good.  At first, right after I popped it in the oven, I thought, 'This is way too time consuming for a side dish.'  And then I tried my first bite.  It was better than good.  It was light and fluffy.  It had a yummy carrot flavor without being too carroty.  (I don't like cooked carrots.)

Carrot Souffle

 

Ingredients

• 2 lbs carrots, peeled, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
• Salt for salting cooking water
• 1 cup whole milk (Low fat milk works, too.)
• 1 cup Saltine cracker crumbs
• 3/4 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/3 cup minced onion
• 1 Tbsp room temperature butter
• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon Ground mustard
• 3 large eggs

1 Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 2-quart baking dish and set aside.

2 Place carrots in a saucepan and cover with an inch of water. Add about 1 teaspoon of salt to the water. Bring to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes, or until the carrots are tender. Strain the carrots and purée in a food processor or with an immersion blender.

3 Place carrot purée in a large bowl. Slowly add in the milk, a little at a time, whisking after each addition so that the mixture stays smooth, not lumpy. Mix in the saltine cracker crumbs, the grated cheese, onion, butter, Kosher salt, cayenne, and black pepper.

4 In a separate bowl, whip up the eggs until frothy. Then whisk them into the carrot purée mixture.

5 Transfer the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until puffed up a bit and lightly golden.

This makes 6-8 servings.  There are approx. 170-230 calories per serving.  I served this along side some grilled pork chops.  Yum!

On an unrelated note, I ran 3.1 miles last night in 34 minutes!  Woo-hoo!

Recipe by: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/carrot_souffle/  (I stole their picture too.  I took one, but it didn't turn out so well.)