Fluffy Carrot Souffle

Carrots are a long-time favorite of mine, but my experience with them was basically limited to raw, boiled or cooked with pot roast. Not that any of those preparations are bad, but they are pretty boring.

This Carrot Souffle recipe piqued my interest, but it took some convincing to get Adam on board with the idea. We were both pleased with the result when we first tried it a couple of years ago. Cooter loves it, too. In fact, so does K-Bob. It's an easy way for a family of 4 to polish off a pound of carrots in one meal.

 Souffle. It sounds so intimidating. We've all heard of a souffle "falling." As I can recall, I'd never had a souffle before trying my hand at this orange beauty. I don't even know if this one really is a classic souffle. I'm sure Julia Child would scoff at this little recipe and scold us for labeling it as such. But I'm ok with that.

Fluffy Carrot Souffle (adapted from Splenda)
1 pound baby carrots
2 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter
3 TBS all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1½ TBS sugar or no-calorie sugar substitute
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 1-qt baking dish.

Combine carrots, water and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook, covered, 12-15 minutes or until carrots are tender. Drain
Place carrots and butter in a food processor. Process until smooth, scraping sides as necessary.
Combine flour, baking powder and sugar. Add to carrots and process until blended. Add eggs, one at a time, processing until blended between each addition. Add vanilla and pulse 2-3 times.
Spoon mixture into baking dish. Bake 30-45 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Serve immediately.

A note of caution: This mixture absolutely fills my 3-cup food processor. If you don't have a food processor that is large enough, you may be able to use a blender, but I've never tried it.