Creamy Carrot and Millet Soup

2 T Butter
1 medium onion  chopped
1 lb carrot peeled and chopped
1/2 c millet
2.5 c reduced sodium chicken stock ( I have homemade vegetable stock on hand at all times, so that's what I used)
1/2 t salt
1 1/4 c milk
1/2 c sour cream or cream fraiche (uhm, yeah, I will use sour cream thank you, as it's a lot cheaper...).

In 3-4 quart pot, melt butter.  Add onion, cook for 10 minutes, or until tender.  Add the carrots, millet, stock and salt.  Bring to boil, reduce heat to low.  Cover, and cook for 35 minutes, or until carrots and millet are very tender.  Cool slightly.  Transfer carrot and millet mixture to food processor.  Cover and process until completely smooth, scraping down sides.  Add milk and sour cream.  Process until completely smooth.  Return to pot, and heat gently.  Add additional milk to achieve desired texture.


Source:  Better Homes and Gardens.

Let's talk millet first.  It's a grain -- like quinoa, farro, barley etc. etc. etc.  It does not have any gluten.

I found it at Whole Foods in the bulk bins -- $1.99 per pound.   Kind of looks like couscous, but it is a grain.

Back to the recipe.  I picked it because everything about it sounded different and interesting.  Also, the only other time I had carrot soup was in Moscow, Russia.  It was the day we finally brought my daughter out of the orphanage.  We wanted to go out and celebrate, but it was raining at night, so we just ran down to a little French bakery/coffeeshop/restaurant on our street.  Excellent food, and they had carrot soup, which I gobbled down, and so did my daughter.  So, I have some fond memories of carrot soup.  In fact, here is a picture of us eating carrot soup:

I guess I digressed again, but isn't that the great thing about food, and cooking -- it's all tied into your memories and experiences.  OK, back to the recipe.

Definitely very easy to make.  The texture of the soup after you cook the millet with the carrots turns into almost a stew.  The millet soaks up most of the broth.  Pureeing the soup helps, and so does adding the sour cream and milk.  The soup is still fairly thick.  It has the most beautiful orange color, and a lovely creamy texture.  The flavor is sweet and mild.  It definitely needs some garnish to punch up the flavor a little bit -- I served it with Hawaiian pink salt, but I think anything crunchy, salty or spicy would be great -- I kept thinking fried prosciutto on top would be fantastic.  The recipe says to serve it cheese croutons.

It's a nice mild soup, the thickness and creaminess comes from the millet, so you use a lot less milk (and no cream) to get a very rich soup.  By the way, the millet completely disintegrates after you puree the soup, and there is no taste or textural clue that it's even in the soup.