What's up DOC?

Carrots. We all have them in the fridge right now, don't we? For nibbling on "to lose weight." (Remember the whole negative calorie thing?), or for making soup stock, or for shredding into salads. Or, if you bag lunch, what week goes by without a carrot stick or two in there? But who really pays attention to them? In fact, when I was thinking about this piece, I thought about titling it "The bridesmaid in the orange dress."

We all love that beautiful color. Is it too much? Because I have to ask, not rhetorically, when did carrots play a major role on your dinner plate? I bet I know the answer: when you were a kid. When mom defrosted a box of those disgusting frozen crinkle cuts, put a pat of margarine on them, and plopped a spoonful on your plate, telling you they were good for your eyes.

The texture did you in, didn't it? Somewhere between cardboard and soap. And they were probably overcooked and didn't taste like anything.

Time to rethink this. I am as guilty of it as anyone else. Last Saturday, I came back from the Farmer's Market with an unbelievable hoarde of goodies. I did not expect to do as well as I did with the veggies: I had kale, cabbage, potatoes, celery roots, jerusalem artichokes, leeks, beets, and carrots. Now, with this haul in the house, I began planning meals for the week, and starting thinking "OH HELL. I didn't buy enough vegetables. What am I gonna serve with the scallops?" (the cabbage is for duck breast, and the kale is going into spanokopita, of which more will be said later). So I was planning on a run to Whole Foods to get some broccoli or something.

In a "WOW. I coulda had a V-8 " moment (and I'll pass on the V-8, thank you very much), I thought "WHAT ABOUT CARROTS?" And why not? They're easy to cook (I'll show you in a minute), they qualify as "temple food" if you don't dress them like a slut (hard to avoid), and they taste good if you treat them right. And next to the white asparagus, a welcome splash of color.

There are a million recipes for carrots, and earlier in this blog, I talked about a salad with cumin and lemon, but here's a basic, cooked carrot recipe. I think once you make this, you will want it again.

Take a pound of carrots. At this time of year, you really do have to peel them. These are storage carrots, and their skin is tough. After you've peeled them, cut them crosswise into coins, maybe 1/3 of an inch thick. Get about an inch of salted water boiling, and toss in the carrots. Cover the pot and cook them until they're just a bit firmer than you would like.

Now, for a truly temple day side dish, you drain these, and add some lemon juice, and some chopped herbs. But if the rest of your meal isn't too rich, what you do after you have poured off the water, is toss in a tablespoon or so of butter (maybe two, for a pound of carrots,) and stir them into the butter. Brown them a little, if you wish, or add a big tablespoon of brown sugar. Less if you like them less sweet. The carrots will carmelize nicely, and you'll have a beautiful side dish.

And you're done. Remember. They help your vision, they're loaded with vitamins, and they are supposed to be a "negative calorie" food (okay, okay, okay. The butter took care of that).

How hard is that? And you've met an old friend, in a new place. I bet you'll do it again.