These scrumptious carrots will bring a touch of healthy indulgence to weeknight dinners, Sunday roasts, and of course, your annual Christmas feast.
The humble yet versatile root vegetables will be ready in under 30 minutes. Transforming them from basic and bland to gorgeously glazy, sweet, and tender only takes a few simple steps. While delicious with regular everyday carrots, the exact kind used can make them extra specia tool. There’s also one unusual but equally indulgent way to elevate your carrots if your palate leans towards the more savory rather than sweet.
The magic ingredient here is honey. Just the roasting process itself will inevitably bring out some sweetness in your carrots; however, a touch of honey is a sophisticated yet simple way to intensify them even further.
Half a kilo of any supermarket carrots or even baby carrots will do, but if you want a slightly more complex flavour, you’ll want to opt for whole orange or rainbow carrots.
Love and Lemons has the perfect three-step recipe to take your honey-glazed carrots to another level:
How to roast carrots:
1. There’s no need to even peel. Simply wash and cut your carrots crosswise into roughly 2-inch pieces and slice extra-thick pieces in half vertically. This is to make sure they can all cook at a similar rate.
2. Now it’s time to season them up. Place your chopped carrots in a large bowl and toss with honey, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Mix well to coat evenly.
3. Spread in a single layer on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Transfer to a 425°F (220 degrees Celsius) oven and roast for 15 to 25 minutes. With baby carrots, you’ll want to start checking on them sooner in the roasting process – after 10 minutes to stop them from over-cooking.
Once they are fork-tender and nicely browned but not mushy, they’ll be almost ready to devour. Simply finish off with some seasoning to taste and garnish with parsley.
They’ll be perfect on their own or as a side dish to your favourite kind of protein, or even a lentil pasta or baked feta. Keep them in the fridge for up to three days and simply reheat in the microwave or oven.
Love and Lemons also recommends a garlic parmesan fusion if you don’t fancy the honey – simply add 1/4 tsp of garlic powder instead and serve with freshly grated parmesan on top.
