Summer, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. First, I love cooking and eating vegetables that have just been picked. Second, I love cooking and eating vegetables that are neither uniform nor perfectly formed, like this bunch of carrots that I found at a local farmstand. Almost 200 years ago when Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote her famous sonnet, farm to table was the ordinary way to eat. Today it brings extraordinary joy and wonder.
serves 3
INgredients
1 bunch fresh carrots, of varying sizes, shapes and colors, with tops reserved
6-7 fresh mint leaves
1 Tablespoon EVOO
scant pinch of salt
Process
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Separate the carrots from their green tops, saving the tops. Scrape any tiny hairs or dark spots from the surface of each carrot
and then wash them well and drain.
Halve each carrot, lengthwise, as close to the center as possible. Then halve each half, until the carrot pieces resemble french fries. If you are serving these to your kids, remember the key word here is “resemble.”
Arrange the sliced carrots in a baking pan. Chop the carrot greens and the mint leaves,
and sprinkle them over the cut carrots.
Drizzle with the olive oil and spread a scant pinch of salt atop the carrots. Place in the oven for 20-30 minutes, turning once or twice with a wooden spoon. Serve with porridge, polenta or soft rice.
©Nancy Wolfson-Moche 2015
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