The roasting of carrots is a fairly recent discovery of mine. In my pre - roasting days, most vegetables would be boiled or at a push, steamed. This is obviously through following a long held tradition of boiling vegetables in the UK, which is curious as we also have a reputation for boiling the life out of them and reducing them to mush - a la school cauliflower - overly soft and verging on beige. Steaming always seems so appealing to me in a self satisfied smug way, but the bother often leaves me searching for an alternative, which was usually to throw them in a pan of boiling water or even chuck them in a bowl, cover with water and microwave. (Neil swears all vegetables become squeaky when they are cooked like this).
I recently read a magazine article written by a cook claiming that boiling vegetables for as much as an hour and rendering them super tender and yes, almost mushy, teases out more flavour, especially broccoli raab which she claims looses it's bitterness if cooked long enough. Something to try in the future. Whatever virtues boiling, either for a short blanch to keep the crispness or a long, slow simmer or super healthy steaming have, roasting is becoming my go to cooking choice for most veg.
Roasting a carrot teases out more of it's sweetness. Roasting cauliflower enhances the earthiness and presents you with crisp, browned edges. Laying whole leaves of kale or chard complete with their stalks into a baking dish and drizzling with a little olive oil and a few sea salt flakes, creates a crisp, chewy texture when roasted. (Although I would be much more likely to shred and fry this vegetable). Then there is the appeal of throwing the baking dish into the oven and forgetting about it while it takes care of itself. That, of course, is a strong argument for baking as an attractive alternative.
Roasting also allows you to glaze things, whether it's a lick of honey on some carrots or a complicated soy, sesame and sweet chili sauce concoction on some tender greens. For this Christmas day recipe I made a glaze just edging into luxury with the addition of some floral and earthy white truffle butter. Just a little dab is all that is needed, too much and the darn thing dominates your taste buds for the rest of the day.
Recipe : Glazed and roasted carrots
For this recipe I went a bit crazy and used 3 fancy jars of sweeteners that I am just beginning to learn about and use. Feel free to just use honey or give one or two of the more 'healthy' options a try.
5 or 6 medium sized carrots, cut into quarters length ways (There are some attractive colours now so try and get a mixture)
1/2 tbsp olive oil
a few pinches of sea salt flakes
freshly ground black pepper
Glaze
1 tbsp honey
1/4 tsp agave nectar (optional)
1/4 tsp maple syrup (optional)
1/4 tsp birch syrup (optional)
1.5 tbsp mustard
1/8 - 1/4 tsp white truffle butter (optional)
a few flakes of sea salt
For the glaze, mix everything together and then taste. Adjust to your liking with a little more honey (or sweeteners), mustard and salt until you find a balance you like. Add as much or as little truffle butter as you want, (you may find melting it first will be easier). Set aside.
To roast the carrots, pre heat the oven to 375oF and lay the vegetables in a single layer on a baking dish. Drizzle with the oil and sprinkle with the salt and stir well to ensure they are coasted with oil all over.
Roast for about 30 - 40 minutes until they can be easily pierced with a knife.
Remove from the oven, pour the glaze all over, stirring well again to ensure they are well coated and return to the oven for a further 15 minutes or so until sticky and caramelised. (Because of the sugar content in honey, they can burn quickly, so keep an eye on them whilst cooking).
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