Balsamic
Glazed Carrots
Hi guys! I'm here again with this month's instalment of the column I write for my local newspaper, The Hinton Voice.
[September is here,
and with it – my favorite season of all time – fall.
Pumpkin spice lattes
aside, it’s also the time of year when all of the hard work put in during the
spring and summer gardening has finally come to fruition. The first year I started gardening I planted
the basics –tomatoes and carrots. Easy
beginner veggies that pair really well together for companion gardening. It
took me a few seasons before I finally figured out how to grow edible tomatoes
(now I can’t keep up with them all!) but carrots have always been something
that I have found really easy to grow.
My grandparents live on Vancouver Island, a noticeably different growing
climate than we have here. Each year
it’s always a race to see who has edible goodies in their garden’s first. Generally most of the time my Gramps wins, but
ever since the race began, my carrots have always been ready to eat first. He generally plants his garden well before
mine, but for the most part, my carrots always seem to come in first.
A few seasons in I
got wise and figured out how to stagger planting seeds a few weeks apart so
that I have just enough carrots ready at a time. These balsamic carrots are one of my favorite
ways to use them, and make a great side for a weeknight roasted chicken or a
Thanksgiving turkey feast. The honey and
sugar makes a sweet crust on the carrots, while the vinegar cuts the sweetness
with a bit of sour and creates a glaze.
You can adjust the vinegar or sugars depending on if you like more sweet
or sour, but I like this combination the best myself!]
Recipe makes 4-6 servings
Ingredients
- 12 or so medium, whole carrots
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- salt & pepper to taste
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- a few sprigs of fresh thyme, optional
Directions
Preheat oven to 375
degrees.
Chop the leafy tops
off the carrots leaving about ½ an inch of the green on the top (you can cut
the tops off if you like, I just like the aesthetic appeal that leaving a bit
of green on the top gives – it also helps keep the carrots as fresh as possible
until the very last second).
Scrub the carrots
well, and then pat dry. Place them on a
baking sheet and toss with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper and a
few springs of fresh thyme if you have it.
Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the carrots are about
2/3 cooked.
Meanwhile, prepare
the glaze by combining the vinegar, maple syrup or honey and brown sugar in a
small saucepan and heating over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Alternately, you can place the ingredients in
a microwave safe dish and heat for 30-60 seconds or so to get the same result.
Pour glaze over
carrots and return to oven for a remaining 10-15 minutes, until the glaze is
bubbling and the carrots are completely cooked. Stir the carrots immediately
after removing them from the oven to coat them with the glaze – the glaze will
thicken as it cools.
Serve with a few more
springs of fresh thyme.
Nutritional Info (1/6th of recipe)
Calories
- 108 Fat – 2 Carbs – 22 Protein - 2
Fibre – 4
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
So fun to meet you this weekend. Even if it was brief! Fall is my fav too!!
ReplyDeleteI made these tonight. Positively delicious!! We had them for dinner with veggies and tahini/lemon dressing. Yum! thanks.
ReplyDelete