Busy, Busy, Busy
Howdy. Seems like the holidays whizzed by and we moved right into the heart of winter. Usually time frees up after the holidays, but between a post-New Year’s party, a weekend trip to Seattle, and a big project at work ramping up time is still at a premium. It’s been tough taking the time to add any cooking wisdom to this blog!
I haven’t stopped cooking. That rarely happens. But when we get busy, we turn to the old standbys: soups, tacos, salads, and chili. Meals we can easily and reliably pull together, but aren’t that fun to share here. And then there are the new recipes I created but aren’t quite right. They’re fine, but nothing I want to put on the blog. Recently suggested I share these “fails” — and maybe I will.
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Simple Honey Glazed Carrots
Tonight’s recipe for glazed carrots is simple, but super flavorful. I’m not usually a carrot person. I like them raw in salads. And carrots always fill a background note in a soup or stew, but it’s not a vegetable we usually cook to stand alone. But I’ve had a change of heart after making roasted carrots for my good friends Gracie and Carl when I visited them in Seattle earlier this month. The carrots were just simple—salt, pepper, and butter. But they cooked for a good 45-minutes and got soft, sweet, and a little caramelized.
As luck would have it, Sean and I were short on veggies in the fridge this week. I think it’s because zucchini was $2.29 per pound at Market Basket and I refused to pay that price for a vegetable that you can find for $0.69 per pound in the heart of the summer. And usually off-season zucchini is more like $1.29 per pound. So I was stuck tonight trying to decide if we should skip a vegetable with dinner (which I hate to do) or just use the humble carrot.
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I’m happy I went with the latter decision. Sean said, “I can’t remember having a better carrot in my life.” Maybe he’s exaggerating, but the combination of butter, honey, and Sriracha turned out to be a very good match for the carrot. The sesame seeds gave a bit of texture and nutty flavor to the glazed carrots. Next time I try these, I may try a drop or two of toasted sesame oil in with the butter mixture.
Honey Sriracha Glazed Carrots with Sesame Seeds
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp Sriracha
- salt to taste
- 6 large carrots
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- In a small saucepan melt the butter with the honey over medium-low heat. Once the butter is melted, stir in the Sriracha and a pinch of salt.
- To prep the carrots, trim and peel them. Cut them into 2-3 inch sticks. Make the pieces all of the same size by halving or quartering where the carrots get thicker.
- Put the carrots into an 8×8 baking dish. Pour the honey Sriracha butter over the carrots. Add the sesame seeds. Toss to coat with a wooden spoon. Put into the oven.
- Cook for about 45 minutes, stirring to coat the carrots in the glaze every 15 minutes. The carrots will be done when they are soft and slightly caramelized. The pan will be a soaker, but it’s worth it!
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Harvest Brown Rice Salad
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