The theme for this South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors is carrot. The senior garden has yield a good harvest of carrots. All thanks to the volunteers who mind the garden all summer long. One of the volunteer is Frank who keeps a healthy lifestyle at his golden years.

Health benefits of carrots:

• an excellent source of beta carotene, the precursor of vitamin A
• a good source of dietary fiber and potassium
• help prevent night blindness, an inability of the eyes to adjust to dim lighting or darkness caused by deficiency of Vitamin A. Vitamin A combines with therotein opsin in the retina’s rod cell to form rhodopsin, which is needed for night vision.
• may help to lower blood cholesterol lever
• protect against caner

Drawback:

• excessive intake can give skin a yellowish tinge

Marian prepared a couple of recipes which the main ingredient is carrot. A carrot soup and a carrot loaf. The Carrot and Red Lentil Soup is sweet and laden with fiber. It can be served creamy or chunky according to your preference. Most of the participants preferred a creamy carrot soup except for Marcel. So, for Marcel’s sake, we blended half of the soup to make creamy soup and added the remaining half of chunky soup for texture.

Ingredients

• 8 medium size carrots, peel and coarsely chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup split red lentil
• 5 cups water or chicken stock
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 3 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
• fresh cilantro for garnishing (optional)
• plain yogurt
• salt and pepper to taste

Source: this recipe is adapted from the International Bestseller ‘Staying Alive’ via Marian

Serves 8

Instructions

Soak lentil in water.

Heat a pot with the butter in medium heat. Add onions and carrots and cook until soften.

Add soaked lentils and broth or water. Flavour with ground coriander. Bring the soup to a boil. Lower the heat, cover and simmer lentils are tender.

Add chopped parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook for another 5 minutes.

Use a hand blender to puree the soup until your desired smoothness.

For Marcel, we reserved part of the chunky soup to add to the puree for texture. Serve with a dollop of plain yogurt and sprinkle with chopped cilantro. You may serve this soup hot or cold.