“Rabbit food” doesn’t have to mean the same old boring carrot sticks…make your Easter menus beautiful and bunny-ful with bright and tangy Carrot Ginger soup or even crisp and crunchy veggie cups for your Easter starters! 3P is kicking “going veggie” up a notch with two simple recipes that will dazzle your family this coming holiday.
Let’s start slicing and dicing and get these veggie cups ready to roll!
These are simple to assemble and can be personalized to your family’s taste. They can be a side dish, or an appetizer!
What you’ll need: (We made 15 cups)
– Tumbler cups, or any other clear plastic cup
3-4 sliced carrot sticks per cup
3-4 celery sticks per cup
2-3 cucumber sticks per cup
3 red or yellow pepper strips per cup
3 grape or cherry tomatoes per cup
2-3 small cauliflower florets per cup
2-3 radish slices per cup
2 (quickly blanched) asparagus stalks per cup
2 tablespoonfuls of ranch or blue cheese dip per cup. For variety, we chose to do half with blue cheese and half with ranch. You can also designate which cups contain blue cheese dressing by adding blue cheese crumbles to those cups.
DIRECTIONS: Place a spoonful of dip on the bottom of a tumbler cup. Make sure your veggies are dried well, as to not water down dressing. Arrange carrot sticks, celery sticks, pepper strips, cucumber sticks, radishes, cauliflower florets and grape tomatoes in each cup. Quickly blanch your asparagus in boiling water, and then put them right into an ice bath to keep them crisp. Add two or three to each cup, and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Spicy ginger and tangy orange juice are the keys this tart and tasty Carrot Ginger soup…a recommendation from our frieder Tania, and new favorite for every bunny in our family! Here’s the how-to on this souper happenin’ starter:
Ingredients: (Adapted from Food Network)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup minced onion
1/4 cup minced peeled fresh ginger
3 cups chicken stock or canned low-salt chicken broth
4 cups sliced peeled carrots (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup half and half
Optional: greek yogurt and cilantro or parsley garnish
Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and 1/4 cup minced ginger and sauté until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add 3 cups chicken stock and 4 cups sliced carrots. Cover and simmer until carrots are tender, about 30 minutes.
Working in batches, carefully puree mixture in blender or processor. Return soup to saucepan. Mix in orange juice, then half and half. Cook over low heat 5 minutes. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to simmer before continuing, thinning with more stock if necessary.) Ladle soup into bowls.
“Rabbit food” never looked so good, or tasted so wonderful! Hoppy Easter to you and all of your beloved bunnies!
