Braised Local Carrots

In celebration this week, we took the family out for dinner.

While everyone leaned toward meat forward dishes— burgers and steaks— my tummy locked in on the braised local carrots. That was the name of the dish. Just braised local carrots.

It’s was the sole vegan option for entrees and I was curious how on earth they were preparing carrots in a manner that would fulfill a patrons expectations as a main course.

I’m not vegan but my interest was peaked.

When I inquired with our server I was given a descritption of the dish so tantilizing I couldn’t not try it!

The dish was completely satisfying! The beans make it hearty but the rich barbecue flavors are what made me forget there wasn’t any meat involved. I could hardly wait to recreate it at home.

This is certainly a delicious standby for our meatless friends at the table but also a hearty side dish to go with grilled steak.

After the children harvested a lovely amount in the morning, I was determined to mess around with the various carrots they brought to the kitchen.

At the restaurant they definitely charred thick carrots with a BBQ method to get a deep grill flavor. For me, a non-grill operator, I seasoned the vegetables with BBQ spices and charred under the broiler.

Here’s a rough recipe to play around with:

Ingredients:

• 2lb of carrots

• 2-3C of hearty leafy green like kale or chard

• 1C vegetable stock

• 1 Tbsp tomato paste

• 2 can of kidney beans

MP Spice Rub:

• 2 Tbsp brown sugar

• 1.5Tbsp salt

• 1 Tbsp paprika

• 1 Tbsp chili powder

• 1 Tbsp onion powder

• 1 Tbsp garlic powder

• 2 tsp ground black pepper

Combine in bowl. You’ll have leftover for the week but great to marinate steaks if you’re going to add meat alongside the carrots as we did. Thanks, Modern Proper ladies!

Roast the Carrots:

1. Turn on broiler

2. Rinse and trim carrots. If lengthy, cut in half, horizontally

3. Lay on sheet pan. Do not overlap.

4. Drizzle olive oil. Add copious amounts of spice rub. A good coating.

5. Place the pan under a broiler for 2-3 mins. Several inches from heating element. Watch them closely.

6. When nice and charred on one side. Shake the pan and roast for another 2 mins.

7. Remove the sheet pan and preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Braise the Carrots:

1. In an oven safe braising skillet or cast-iron add vegetable stock, vest of one orange, two freshly squeezed orange juice, tomato paste, 1 Tbsp bbq seasoning, drizzle of molasses and 2 cans of drained and rinsed kidney beans.

2. Bring the braising liquid to a boil on the stove.

3. Add the charred carrots and put a lid on the pan.

4. Place the pan in the preheated oven for about 10 mins.

5. Remove the lid and let it go for another 8-10 mins. Keeping an eye that the liquid cooks down but a small amount of stays with the carrots. The beans can breakdown but depending on the size of your carrots try to maintain some tooth texture (a crunch to the bite). Slightly less than fork tender but not mushy.

Finish the Carrots:

1. Off the heat toss in the chard or kale on top of the braised vegetable and cover with the lid again until ready to serve. The greens will wilt beautifully while/if you’re waiting for the steaks to rest.

2. When ready to serve, taste and season to your liking. I dust with finishing salt and add another little drizzle of molasses.