Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Parmesan Roasted Baby Carrots


LESLIE BUDEWITZ: Three shelves full of cookbooks, including two fat binders of recipes we’ve clipped or created ourselves. Dozens of recipes in a folder on my computer. Food blogs I adore and subscribe to, including Williams-Sonoma and the Smitten Kitchen.

And still, I can’t stop myself from ripping recipes out of magazines and catalogs (Williams-Sonoma again!), from the articles AND the ads! The stack is growing ridiculously high.

So I can’t tell you where I found this easy recipe, though it may have been the Costco magazine. Or not. Doesn’t matter—I’m not giving it back.

If, like many of us, you’re looking to shed a few pounds in the new year, I can tell you from experience that the best way is not to head to the gym, although that won’t hurt. Instead, double up on veggies. If you usually eat a salad with grilled chicken or salmon, add a handful or roasted carrots or kale. Cut back the carbos if you must, but double your rainbow of beauties, and results are nearly guaranteed!

Admittedly, there are a few carbs in carrots, and the bread crumbs add some as well, but not much. Panko, the coarser breadcrumbs, work best. (One grocery store I frequent stocks them in the baking aisle, with other breadcrumbs; the other has decided that Progresso Italian breadcrumbs belong in baking while Panko, originally a Japanese style, should live in the “ethnic foods” section. So, you may have to scout, but they’re worth it!)

A sprinkling of parsley is pretty and delicious, but my plant finally gave up the ghost, so I had to go without last time.

We typically use those adorable baby carrots, but larger carrots halved or quartered and cut in 3-4" lengths work just as well.

Parmesan Roasted Baby Carrots

3-4 cups (about one pound) baby carrots
1/4 cup olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons Panko bread crumbs
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
chopped parsley, optional


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or spray with nonstick cooking spray. Toss the carrots in a bowl with the oil, garlic, Parmesan, breadcrumbs, and seasoning. (You can also mix them right in your roasting pan.) Spread onto roasting pan and roast 20-25 minutes, until the carrots are tender. (Stir the vegetables once or twice while roasting, either with a spoon or spatula or by shaking the pan.) When done, place in your serving dish and sprinkle the parsley on top. Serve immediately.

Makes 6-8 half cup servings.





From the cover of KILLING THYME (October 2016, in paperback, e-book, and audio---large print coming in March 2017!): 

At Seattle Spice in the Pike Place Market, owner Pepper Reece is savoring her business success, but soon finds her plans disrupted by a killer…

Pepper Reece’s to-do list is longer than the shopping list for a five-course dinner, as she conjures up spice blends bursting with seasonal flavor, soothes nervous brides fretting over the gift registry, and crosses her fingers for a rave review from a sharp-tongued food critic. Add to the mix a welcome visit from her mother, Lena, and she’s got the perfect recipe for a busy summer garnished with a dash of fun. 

While browsing in the artists’ stalls, Pepper and Lena drool over stunning pottery made by a Market newcomer. But when Lena recognizes the potter, Bonnie Clay, as an old friend who disappeared years ago, the afternoon turns sour. To Pepper’s surprise, Bonnie seems intimately connected to her family’s past. after Bonnie is murdered only days later, Pepper is determined to uncover the truth. 

But as Pepper roots out long-buried secrets, will she be digging her own grave?


Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries and the Spice Shop Mysteries—and the first author to win Agatha Awards for both fiction and nonfiction. The 2015-16 president of Sisters in Crime, she lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician and doctor of natural medicine, and their cat Ruff, a cover model and avid bird-watcher.

Swing by my website  and join the mailing list for my seasonal newsletter. And join me on Facebookwhere I often share news of new books and giveaways from my cozy writer friends.

12 comments:

  1. I am so with you on the recipe collecting--I swear I have yellowed clippings from San Francisco papers, and I moved from there in 1987! And I think panko is a brilliant ingredient, wherever it's shelved. This is a nice change-up recipe for a traditional ingredient.

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    1. I think we've got good company, Sheila -- not long ago, I found a yellowed clipping from who knows where in a 1950s cookbook a friend gave me!

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  2. This looks soooo good. How do you think it would work with parsnips?

    Pat D
    patdupuy@yahoo.com

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    1. Pat, I think it would be great! I'd cut them in sticks or chunks. Use a good crystal or kosher salt to bring out the flavor.

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  3. These carrots look amazing, and even better, so easy! Thanks for sharing the recipe -- I can't wait to make them ~

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  4. I should try those carrots, then maybe my kids will eat them!

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    1. The cheese should do the trick, esp the bits that slide off the carrots and form what Mr. Right calls "the Parmesan cookies"!

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  5. Great tasty idea. Parsnips? Why not? Also broccoli and cauliflower would be good.

    Regarding carrots and carbohydrates--
    Nutrition summary:
    Calories 52
    Fat 0.31g
    Carbs 12.26g
    Protein 1.19g
    There are 52 calories in 1 cup of chopped Carrots.
    Calorie breakdown: 5% fat, 90% carbs, 5% protein.

    Contrary to popular opinion, vegetables are mostly carbs.

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    1. On a slightly related note, I saw bags of frozen Broccoli Tots at the supermarket this weekend. How much broccoli and how much breading and fat are in those? Dear people, the vegetable aisle is over that way. Or read this recipe if your kids won't look at anything green on their plate!

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    2. Thanks, Libby. In the Weight Watchers system, carrots are 0 points, but the oil, Panko, and Parmesan each count. It's always hard to figure out how to count the oil, since much of it cooks onto the pan, not the food. I'm going to estimate a half cup serving at 2-3 points, which is just fine.

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    3. Broccoli Tots? That's basically what this is, isn't it? You're giving me ideas.

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