Seared Ginger Carrots with Thyme and Shallots

This picture illustrates why I love rainbow carrots. They’re stunning. And this package didn’t contain white, dark orange or red varieties. (and yes, I look at a number of bags to find the one with the best variety. I am that annoying shopper who examines produce carefully before any goes in my cart.)

Carrots play well with other vegetables, but in this recipe they get to star in their own dish. Applause, applause.

According to a website we all somehow missed before now, www.carrotmuseum.co.uk, carrots are believed to have been cultivated first in the Afghanistan region before the 900s . . . and they were purple or yellow! They were eventually cultivated to be orange, plumper and sweeter.  And thanks to plant geneticist Philipp Simon, carrots now contain 75% more beta-carotene than carrots 25 years ago (hearthland.time.com).

I am sure I was fed pureed carrots as a baby. But the first carrots I remember are the little cubes in the canned or frozen mixed vegetables. Gross. They were touching lima beans. I still don’t care so much for raw carrots, but I love them cooked, in a roasted root vegetable mix, sauteed with a brown sugar-Dijon sauce or  served with a lemon-honey glaze.

Or, now, made this way. The recipe is from the cookbook Bountiful, Recipes Inspired by Our Garden, by Todd Porter and Diane Cu. They also have a beautiful blog about food, travel and life, as revealed through their photography.

I guessed on the weight of carrots and shallots, and used a little extra sugar. I added a little more butter at the end. Make sure you use enough salt.

Seared Ginger Carrots with Thyme and Shallots

1 tbsp. grapeseed oil or other high-flash-point oil (i just used canola)

1 tbsp. butter

3/4 lb. carrots, sliced 1/4 inch thick

1/4 lb. shallots, peeled and sliced into rings

1 tbsp. crushed or minced garlic, about 3 cloves

1 inch fresh ginger root, peeled and grated or minced

1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme

2 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. kosher or sea salt

1/2 tsp. lemon juice

Heat a saute pan over high heat. Add the oil and butter, then quickly add the carrots. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring a few times

Turn down heat a little and add shallots, garlic, ginger, thyme, sugar and salt. Cook for a few minutes more, until carrots are tender. Stir in lemon juice and serve.

Serves 4 to 6.