Often with the new year comes a change in your eating habits. Whether it is part of your resolution for the next year or you are just trying to cleanse your body of all the sugar you enjoyed over the holidays, a healthier menu finds its way into most homes. The best way to make this healthier eating habit stick is by finding recipes that are healthy, delicious and easy. You need foods around the house that are easy to make and store so when your tummy grumbles you can make the best choices.
This carrot dish meets all the qualifications mentioned above. It is healthy, yummy and quick. You will want to turn on your vent fan for this because it does create smoke, but that is part of what makes this dish so good. These carrots are also very versitile. You can enjoy them warm or cold, as a side dish or on top of lettuce as a salad. I decided to keep the recipe very simple with just a few ingredients, but feel free to get creative. Add some goat cheese after you've cooked the carrots or make a vinegrette to splash on top of them. Crushed walnuts would be another great, healthy addition to the top of these carrts. The options are endless!
Serves 4 as sides dish
Ingredients
2 bags of tri-colored baby carrots
3/4 cup pomegranate arils
1-2 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
3 tbsp fresh mint leaves, chopped
a sprinkle of grated parmesan
olive oil
salt
pepper
Instructions
Heat a heavy bottom skillet, like cast iron, over high heat until it just starts to smoke. Drizzle in about a tbsp of olive oil. Next add one bag of the carrots. Most of the carrot bags come with water in them. I recommend you dry off the carrots before adding them to the hot oil or you are going to get a lot of splatter.
Season the carrots while they cook. Do not disturb the carrots for about 5 minutes. You want them to charr on the bottom side and if you keep moving them around this won't happen. Once the first side is charred, stir the carrots around and continue to cook them until they just start to get tender. You want the carrots to still have a little crunch to them. This will probably be another 5-10 minutes of cooking time.
When the first batch is done, remove them from the pan and put them on your serving platter. Let the pan heat back up again before adding the second batch.
Once all of the carrots are cooked, splash on the red wine vinegar, and then top with the pomegranate, parmesan, rosemary and mint. As I mentioned above, keep going with the toppings if you want and try something new each time!