The Year of the Carrot: Pomegranate Carrots

This fall, it’s all about the humble and hardworking carrot. It’s a barely noticeable vegetable used in most dishes. However, carrots’ mild sweet flavor should not be underestimated. They’re essential to many complex recipes — especially slow cooking stews. Recently, The New York Times mentioned carrots as the trend of the day, replacing last year’s brussel sprouts. Suddenly, carrot recipes are sprouting everywhere.

In this recipe, purple and yellow carrots roast in pomegranate molasses, honey and apple cider — freeing carrots from the traditional autumn spices of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. The resulting taste is mildly sweet and tart with a bit of spice. Since the carrots used in this recipe are bulbous in size, they roast into a meaty texture.

The finale of this dish is a generous handful of juicy and crunchy pomegranate seeds. Like many roast root vegetables, they’re delicious eaten alone or toss with a salad made of greens or grains. Either way, carrots are a colorful vegetable whose time has come to be a star ingredient.

What’s your other favorite carrot recipe?

Pomegranate Glazed Carrots

Ingredients

• 2 lb. carrots
• ¼ cup pomegranate molasses
• 1 tbsp. honey
• Crushed red pepper; to taste
• A pinch of sea salt
• ½ tsp. ground ginger
• 1/8-cup olive oil; plus more for greasing a baking dish
• ½ cup apple cider
• 1 tbsp. butter
• Garnish: Fresh Pomegranate seeds

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease a baking dish with olive oil.
2. Thoroughly clean and scrub the outer layer of the carrots, but don’t peel them. Trim green leafy ends. Leave small carrots whole with a tiny bit of green stem. Cut large carrots vertically in half. Place carrots in the greased baking dish .
3. To make the pomegranate glaze, whisk pomegranate molasses, honey, salt, olive oil and apple cider together.
4. Pour pomegranate glaze over the carrots. Cut the butter into half-inch pieces and place over the carrots. Cover with foil.
5. Roast carrots for at least 1 hour, or until they’re fork tender.
6. Remove carrots from the oven and garnish with pomegranate seeds.
7. Enjoy!

Reference:
The New York Times