Healthy cooking with Carnation milk: pumpkin curry soup

When Carnation approached me to get the word out that their Evaporated Milk is not only for baking but for cooking as well, I was intrigued. Could evaporated milk – which I only associated with treats like fudge and pumpkin pie – be used in healthy cooking? They may call it “The Cooking Milk” but I had to see for myself.

Making it healthier with Carnation Evaporated Milk

As part of the campaign*, I was asked to cook up a recipe of my own as well as one from the Carnation Holiday Recipe Guide (download the PDF here).

I rarely use milk or cream in entrees, so what was I going to make?  After visiting VeryBestBaking.com, I found a recipe that’s very similar to one I make for Butternut Squash Soup. Instead of squash it uses canned pumpkin, which takes the cooking time from several hours to about 30 minutes.

I substituted the butter with heart healthy olive oil, and cut the curry powder in half – it was way to spicy for me. I used vegetable broth instead of chicken broth, and Carnation Fat Free Evaporated Milk instead of their low fat or regular versions.

When I plugged the healthified recipe into the Weight Watchers Recipe Builder, it came to 2 POINTS per serving.

So how did it taste? Awesome! My nine-year-old son even asked for seconds. Since I always seem to have a couple of cans of leftover canned pumpkin after Thanksgiving, this is a great way to quickly and deliciously use them up.

(I’ll be tackling a recipe from the Carnation Holiday Recipe Guide soon!)

This Mama’s Healthy Pumpkin Curry Soup
(based on this recipe)
Serves 5

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup (1 small) chopped onion
• 2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon curry powder (to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin
• 1 can (12 fl. oz.) NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Fat Free Evaporated Milk

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring frequently, for 2 to 3 minutes or until tender.
2. Stir in curry powder, salt and pepper; cook for 1 minute.
3. Add broth and pumpkin; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 to 20 minutes.
4. Stir in evaporated milk. Transfer mixture to food processor or blender (in batches, if necessary) and cover. Blend until smooth. Or you can use a wand blender.
5. Serve warm.

Weight Watchers POINTS = 2

More Information:

• Nutrition information about Carnation Evaporated Milk
• Cooking Benefits of evaporated milk
• Carnation’s Virtual Kitchen
• Additional Recipe Ideas
• The different types of evaporated milk

This recipe was included in the Carnival of Gluten-Free Recipes. 
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Full disclosure: On behalf of Carnation and the One2One Network, I received two free product coupons for Carnation Evaporated milk and a gift card to cover my grocery expenses.