Carrots are one of my favorite vegetables.  I love that they are inexpensive, accessible and versatile to cook.  The night I cooked these, I wasn’t planning on having carrots for dinner, but I was drawn to their beautiful colors in the supermarket.  As most people do, I eat with my eyes first and knew these would look beautiful on my dinner plate.  Impulse shopping can be forgiven if its related to grocery shopping, especially if it’s the in produce section.  I’m always prepared with a grocery list, but will make a change if needed.  If you are one of those people who sticks to baby carrots with ranch dressing, I’m here to show you this can be an alternative option.

I love learning and try to share some of what I discover in each post about the ingredients I use.  Carrots, I would say, have been one of the more interesting ingredients I’ve ever researched.  It felt as though their history was kind of like a soap opera; hard to believe I am talking about a vegetable!  Every part of the world has had their hand in contributing to their history.  Dr. Green’s website summarized it best, so I’ve decided to quote an excerpt from his website.   “Orange is not the original color of carrots – purple is! The carrot seems to have started in Afghanistan, and what appears to be a purple carrot is featured on Egyptian temple walls dating back more than 4000 years. The purple carrot was the norm in India, Europe, and throughout the Middle East. Then, 400 years ago, in another burst of patriotism, Dutch farmers bred an orange carrot to match their country’s color. Today the purple carrot is making a comeback, and green, yellow, red, white, and black varieties have been bred. These natural pigments contain healthy nutrients. The “traditional” purple variety tastes sweeter, and is especially rich in anthocyanins, which also act as antioxidants.”  http://www.drgreene.com/blog/2002/05/17/rainbow-carrots

Isn’t this interesting?  I hope you give this recipe a try and share what you’ve learned at the dinner table too! 😉

Ingredients

• 1 bunch carrots, chopped into ½ inch pieces
• 1/3 cup of water
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 2/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Heat the butter, maple syrup and lemon zest in a pan on medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Add carrots, salt, cinnamon and mix until they’re coated in the sauce.  Allow the carrots to sit in the sauce for a few minutes before adding water.  Cook covered for 8 – 10 minutes on medium heat.  Be sure to check the carrots to see if they are tender before the listed time, you don’t want to overcook them.  If they are done but the liquid has not reduced down, take the carrots out of the pan and allow the sauce to thicken.  This shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.