I eat raw carrots as a snack almost every day. I rarely crave them, but I always make myself take that first bite, knowing that it is worth it. The aroma of a good, local carrot still impresses me. It is complex and flowery yet earthy. Since I eat so many raw carrots I kind of forget how good they can be cooked. When a carrot is cooked, it goes from something that feels very much like a health food and becomes almost a dessert. These Cast Iron Maple Glazed Carrots are so tasty you might even feel guilty eating them. But with a simple and clean recipe like this one, you have nothing to fear.
Cast Iron Maple Glazed Carrots
Ingredients:
- 1 lb carrots
- 2-3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon butter or oil for the pan
Procedure:
1. Preheat oven to 400° F.
2. Prepare the carrots: you want to have pieces of carrot that are about 3-4 inches long and about a half inch thick. If you have smaller baby carrots, you can leave them as is and just trim the stem and clean/peel as desired. For larger carrots, you can cut them down to size by cutting into 2 or 3 lengths and halving or quartering.
3. In a buttered (or oiled) 10-12 inch cast iron pan over medium high heat, sauté the carrots until you see some golden brown spots.
4. Turn off the burner and add the maple syrup and salt to the pan and toss with the carrots.
5. Roast the carrots in the oven for about 10 minutes, until tender.
Ever wondered about tapping those maple trees in your yard? Making your own maple syrup is not as complicated or as expensive as you might think. We took our simple, no fuss process for making syrup and put together a detailed, easy to follow guide to making your own syrup with easy to find materials, many of which you probably already have! Check it out here.
Ferrin Brook Farm 