Menu Monday: MINTED CARROTS

Now the carrot is a much beloved vegetable in this household. I used to hate cooked carrots, but have learned that they were often overcook--you have to master that fine balance between tenderness and mush. I don't like mushy carrots. I like them to have a bite. That's probably why I have always loved raw carrots. I never needed any ranch or dip with them either when I was a kid (as so many do). They are a nicely sweet vegetable.

So I decided to go with a vegetable I know and love and mix it. Zach said these MINTED CARROTS might be the best he has ever tasted (!). :)

MINTED CARROTS

-Using either fresh or frozen peeled and sliced carrots--I used frozen crinkle carrots, which are fun--boil them in salted water until tender.

-In the meantime, melt 1/4 cup butter and a 1/4 cup honey with a 1/2 teaspoon salt.

-Once it get boiling, remove from heat until the carrots are done. (Isn't that spoon holder awesome? Zach got it for me for Christmas--it was in my stocking--and this was actually the first time I really needed to use it. I think it is from the Michael Graves line at Target...)

-Drain the carrots and add them to the glaze. Heat until the glaze is cooked down to almost nothing.

-Sprinkle with some dried or fresh mint, and there you go: MINTED CARROTS! (I used some of the mint I grew last summer and dried in my oven. By the time I got around to drying some, most of it had died off from the heat, but I rescued a TON of basil dried. It made the house smell heavenly!)

I served these carrots with scalloped potatoes, peas, and Red Lobster biscuits (a.k.a. cheddar bay biscuits--very easy to make as well). I think those biscuits are Zach's favorite though I recently made 7-Up biscuits, which are supposed to taste a lot like the ones from Popeye's, and I think they may be challenging the Red Lobster ones. I will share the recipes for those some day.

It was a scrumptious meal on veggie night!