Roasted Carrots

I was going to make a salad tonight, but I have a huge bag of carrots in the refrigerator, so I decided to make roasted carrots. The boys prefer vegetables raw, but they'll eat some roasted veggies. I read somewhere that Julia Child said that nothing is worse than grilled vegetables. I don't understand that! Of course, she also boiled bacon, so I can see that she and I would have some divergent culinary tastes (not that I can compare myself to the woman who made French cuisine accessible to America!). How can you not love her? She advised, "If you are afraid of butter, use cream."

Anyway, Julia would not have enjoyed our carrots, but we loved them as usual. Did you know you really don't need to peel carrots unless you are eating them raw? Maybe everyone knew that except me. I never peel carrots that I am going to cook anymore, and no one notices. I do scrub them well, and if you are concerned about pesticides, it would be best to use organic or peel conventional ones.

Great roasted vegetables require olive oil and relatively high heat. Those elements make them irresistibly lush and caramelized. You want them a little bit blackened!

Roasted Carrots

6 carrots, scrubbed

2 T. olive oil

salt and pepper

Trim the ends off the carrots. Cut them in half the long way and then into 1-2 inch pieces. Toss them with olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Roast them in a single layer on a cookie sheet/jelly roll pan at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, until they are tender and slightly blackened. To make cleanup easier, line the pan with aluminum foil before cooking. Serves 3-4.