If you're looking for a sunny side dish for your spring table, I've got one here that I think you'll enjoy! ,
Cooked carrots don't always have a great reputation - they tend to be overdone, bland, and leached of all the flavor that makes a carrot such a sweet pleasure to eat. It really is a matter of cooking properly and seasoning well to take them from sad to celebratory!
These started on a whim - somehow, I'd managed to have far too many carrots for my husband and I to eat raw, and needed to use some of them as a side dish rather than being a minor player in stews or salads. My husband tends to be in the 'no cooked carrots' camp, although he is polite about pushing them around the plate and nibbling at a few, so I wasn't expecting him to like this. Which means it was all about pleasing myself!
At the time, he was reviewing Rocky's Ginger Beer, and I asked if I could take one of the bottles for my own uses. He agreed, and I pulled these little golden gems together, to go along with some chicken thighs and wild and mixed rice pilaf.
serves 4
7-8 carrots, peeled, and sliced into thin coins
2 Tablespoons butter
12 oz. Ginger Beer
1 Tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon Hungarian Paprika
salt and pepper to taste
Heat pan with half the butter, and lightly saute the carrots until they are slightly softened.
Add ginger beer, remaining butter, honey, and seasonings, and simmer on medium, stirring occasionally, until the liquid cooks down. The honey will help create a glazed effect.
Taste, and adjust seasonings as needed.
The surprising verdict from my husband: he liked these, and even helped himself to extras! The leftovers had a bright, gingery taste that reheated well, too. We will certainly be doing these again, and I think they'd be a perfect side dish for St. Patricks Day (Leprechaun Coins, anyway), Ostara or Easter.
Ginger Ale would work instead of Ginger Beer (though you may wish to avoid adding honey, since Ginger Ale is plenty sweet already), but I encourage you to find some Ginger Beer - it has a much spicier gingery taste to that really made these carrots sparkle! If you'd like to try some Rocky's, we've got a Giveaway for a six pack going on until March 15th - go enter to win!
I would never thought to use ginger beer when cooking carrots.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing at SYC.
That is a delicious and different way to do carrots.
ReplyDeleteThanks for bringing these carrots to the Blogger's Pit Stop
Hi Lynda,
ReplyDeleteWhat a great way to perk up plain carrots. This recipe sounds delicious and healthy. Thanks for sharing on Real Food Fridays. Pinned & Tweeted!
Hi Lynda - I am guessing that ginger and carrots is a great combination. Thanks so much for sharing with the Let's Get Real party.
ReplyDeleteThese sound AMAZING! I love carrots! Thanks for linking up with us at #BloggersSpotlight and hope you come back next week!
ReplyDeleteCarrots and beer?? Hmmm, sounds like a need to try!! thanks for sharing at the "What's for Dinner" linky party!
ReplyDeleteWe will love your Carrots! Thanks so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday and hope to see you again soon!
ReplyDeleteMiz Helen
You had me at beer - how great to add some healthy carrots and ginger to it :) Thanks for sharing at #HappinessIsHomemade this week, pinned for a tasty dinner next week!
ReplyDeleteThese look yummy! We host several family dinners at our house so I will definitely be trying these. Thanks so much for sharing!
ReplyDeleteColleen - My life on Kaydeross Creek
Sounds delicious. I usually just go for boiled carrots, but this would spice things up a bit!
ReplyDeleteSuper idea!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds wonderful -- I love ginger beer! Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe at Merry Monday. :)
ReplyDeleteThis glazed carrots looks perfect treat thanks for sharing with Hearth and soul blog hop, pinning and tweeting.
ReplyDeleteWe love honey ginger glazed carrots, so good with pork or chicken. I've never thought about using a ginger beer! Thanks for the idea, I'm thinking that the chicken could be thrown in too, and then serve it over rice! Yum!
ReplyDelete