A couple of weeks ago, a bag of miniature rainbow carrots caught my eye at the grocery store- it is funny how my attempt at finding new things to do each and every day has me looking for the novel in my every-day activities. I picked up the carrots thinking my kids would like these more colorful versions for their lunches… nope. The carrots couldn’t compete with the end of the year parties and activities and got shoved to the back of the vegetable drawer.
About ten days later I rediscovered the bag and they became the side dish at dinner. The rainbow carrots did not taste any different than ordinary, every-day orange carrots, but they looked really nice! As with other carrots, they are available in the pre-peeled bags as baby carrots, but are about half the price if you buy them by the bunch. Really, for a couple of bucks, this makes a nice change at dinner and was an inexpensive way to try something new. I’d buy them again- maybe the next time I volunteer to bring the vegetables and dip at a potluck?
Roasted Carrots
Serves 4
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- 1 lb carrots, peeled and chopped about two to three inches long… “baby carrot” sized
- 2 teaspoons Olive Oil
- 1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Onion Powder
- Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper, just a sprinkle of each
- 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
Toss carrots and olive oil together in a baking dish such as an 8″x 8″ baking pan. Sprinkle brown sugar, salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder over the carrots and toss again. Bake carrots for 45 minutes to one hour… I like my vegetables well cooked and go for the full hour, usually. If you are more pressed for time, you can reduce the baking time to 20-30 minutes by microwaving the carrots alone for 5 minutes, then toss in the oil and seasonings.
Until trying them roasted, I never cared for cooked carrots. Yum!
branching out... on a limb 