A pot of gold at the end of the carrot rainbow
I started off the year early on the first day with a trip to the Farmers Market in St. Augustine, the city where we had spent the evening before ringing in the new year.
It was a small market, I assume because many of the vendors (and their potential customers) had partied a little too hard on New Years Eve.
I found your typical Farmers Market fare: giant onions, cabbages the size of a small child and peppers that looked like huge Christmas ornaments.
But, off in a corner of the last table, I found a rainbow of carrots. Your standard orange, some yellows, some white and even some purples.
According to the vendor, purple was the popular color of carrots until the late 17th century when people began to prefer the orange variety. Personally, after giving the whole carrot rainbow a try with this roasted recipe a try this afternoon, I have to say that I'll take the purple any day over its more modern cousin.
While I made this recipe with the whole spectrum of colors, it will work with any young carrots you bring home from the store or the farm.
This is quick and tasty and it really brings out the flavor of the carrots. Give it a try, I'll bet even little kids will ask for seconds on this one.
Honey and Rosemary Roasted Carrots
2 pounds of whole baby carrots
¼ cup of olive oil
2 teaspoons of kosher salt
1 teaspoon of ground black pepper
4 tablespoons of honey
3 teaspoons of finely chopped fresh rosemary or a couple of teaspoons of the dried herb
¼ cup of olive oil
2 teaspoons of kosher salt
1 teaspoon of ground black pepper
4 tablespoons of honey
3 teaspoons of finely chopped fresh rosemary or a couple of teaspoons of the dried herb
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking pan with foil.
- Cut all but ¼-inch of greens off of the carrots. Thoroughly scrub the carrots and put them in a single layer on the baking sheet. Drizzle the carrots with the oil and roll them in the oil to make sure they totally coated.
- Put the pan in the oven to roast until the carrots are tender when they're pierced with a knife (about 20 minutes).
- Remove from the oven and season generously with the salt and the pepper.
- Drizzle honey over the carrots and sprinkle with the rosemary.
Vegetarian.
