carrots with lemon, honey, mint, and feta
I am a sucker for multi-colored anything at the farmers’ market. Case in point: red, purple, yellow, and yes, orange-hued carrots. This year’s food issue of the New Yorker featured a story about root vegetables, and that pretty photo in the article makes me want to produce my own tray of beautifully roasted turnips, potatoes, carrots, celery root, radishes, beets, and other earthy things being ignored in my vegetable drawer. Maybe with a roast chicken or some braised short ribs?
For now, I’m working on the pretty carrots. Roasting seems to be my default cooking method, but this whole combination could also be done with carrots prepared any other way: sauteed, steamed, poached, shredded raw. Or even glazed in some kind of honey-lemon liquid. It’s a little sweet, a little salty, a little bitter, and a little tangy. You know, enough to keep you interested all through winter.
Roasted carrots: cut (if necessary) into sticks or chunks. I like to give them a good scrubbing first, but you can also just peel them. Toss with oil, salt, and pepper. Roast in a 425-degree oven until wrinkled and lightly browned, about 20 minutes.
Mix: lemon juice with honey, salt, and pepper (and olive oil if you’re using un-oiled carrots).
Top with: mint leaves and feta cheese.
