daily special: carrots & zucchini

last thursday i noticed it had been a while since i posted a recipe. today i am posting two! i will also be following up with another recipe tomorrow. i asked my facebook subscribers to let me know what veggies they needed *NEW* recipes for.

 

 

the first two suggestions made were carrots and zucchini. truth be told, i don’t like cooked carrots and at this point of the year i am glad to be moving onto wintery veggies. some folks still have zucchinis in their gardens that they need to eat. so i made up two recipes to use these two veggies. at first i was not too excited about these recipes but after they were made i couldn’t deny their deliciousness!

i wanted to create recipes that were really easy to make, would only require one large pan and could be made consecutively with ease.  hope you enjoy these!

 

RECIPE 1

savory zucchini sauté
serves 4

 

4 large zucchini

2 tablespoons organic, pasture raised butter

half a medium shallot or small shallot, chopped

2 teaspoons cumin seed or ground cumin

3-4 oz goat cheese

salt & peper

 

slice zucchinis lengthwise and then into half moon slices.

 

chop shallot and set aside

 

 

 

heat the pan to medium and add butter, zucchini and a pinch of salt. the zucchini pieces should be spread evenly throughout the pan.

 

with the heat on medium let the zucchinis sweat out  their moisture for 5-8 min.

once they’ve shrunk a little you can turn up the heat to brown the zucchini.

add the cumin and chopped shallot.

 

stir until the zucchini are browned and the shallots cooked.

 

immediately transfer to heat safe bowl. let cool a bit then add the goat cheese in small pinches.

 

sprinkle with freshly ground pepper.

 

RECIPE 2

gingery cooked carrots

serves 4

(this recipe inspired by the lady at the farmers market! thank you!)

 

4-5 large carrots or a bunch of smaller ones

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1 tsp good maple syrup. none of that Aunt Jemimah stuff!

1 inch piece of ginger, grated

pinch of sea salt

 

use large fresh carrots for best flavor. avoid using bagged baby carrots if possible.

cut into 1-2 inch segments (this will help the carrots keep some of their texture and defend against reminders of soggy cooked carrots). you can do this ahead of time and keep them overnight in the fridge in water and covered.

 

heat a large pan to medium high heat. with enough room to keep the carrots from overlapping in the pan.

 

add a 1.5 tsp of coconut oil to the heated pan. reserve 1/2  tablespoons for later. once melted drop the carrots into the pan and start stirring. add a pinch of salt to help the carrots release their moisture.

 

the idea is that the carrots start to brown on the outside.  this takes a bit of time. about 10-15 min. keep stirring. grate the ginger.

 

 

once the carrots are beginning to look brown add the last ½ tablespoon on coconut oil, ginger and maple syrup.

 

the maple syrup will help finish caramelizing the carrots.

 

this dish isn’t very sweet but because of the maple syrup and sweet carrots this dish it is less like a veggie and more like a starch/carbohydrate portion of your meal.

 

pack these items up with some sliced cabbage and black beans for a great lunch!