This easy to prepare roasted rainbow carrot side dish add a colorful and elegant addition to any dinner.
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Why this recipe works
- Easy, yet elegant to serve at a causal or more formal dinner
- The petite carrots are much sweeter than their large cousins and look adorable plated with almost any main course.
- You will never go wrong with roasted vegetables. Carrots in particular are so inexpensive, keep well for weeks and most folks keep a bag around in the frig.
What are the ingredients in this recipe
- Petite rainbow carrots: you can also use small to medium regular carrots as well as baby carrots.
- Butter
- Olive oil
- Garlic
- Dijon mustard: (smooth or grainy) I prefer the grainy texture as it adds more palate interest.
- Honey
- Fresh thyme
- Salt
- Black pepper
How to make this recipe
Preheat oven to 425 F
Turn stove burner on high heat. Place cast iron skillet on top to heat. Add butter and olive oil. Do this only long enough to melt butter (about 1 minute). Once melted remove skillet from heat and add garlic and salt and pepper to taste.
Place carrots in skillet and toss in butter mixture and place in skillet in oven on the middle rack. Roast for about 20 minutes until carrots begin to brown. Do not undercook. (keeping the carrots in the cast iron skillet helps put a nice caramelized coating on them).
While carrots are cooking combine Dijon mustard and honey together in a small bowl and whisk until mixed.
Once out of the oven slowly drizzle honey mustard mixture on top of the carrots, sprinkle with a handful of fresh thyme, serve and enjoy.
FAQ and expert tips
What do honey mustard glazed carrots pair well with?
Add other vegetables when roasting, pasta dishes, rotisserie chicken, pork and steak or beef, seafood. Carrots are so versatile that you won’t go wrong pairing them with almost any main course.
Why use a cast iron skillet?
Cast iron skillets are inexpensive, heavy-duty and virtually indestructible. They can be used for most cooking techniques including roasting, pan-frying, braising, searing, sautéing and more. The best feature of cast iron cooking is the even distribute of heat they provide due to the metal material they are made of. Once the pan gets hot, it stays hot, even when removed from the oven or cook top. Lastly, using a cast iron skillet helps to intensify flavor, produces a delicious crispy outer coating and when a glaze is applied produces a golden, caramelized texture. In short cast iron cooking brings out the best in the food it touches.
Where can I buy petite rainbow carrots?
I love the petite rainbow carrots from Trader Joe’s. In fact I love most everything from Trader Joes. Not only do they stock great produce, but they have fair prices, are always stocking so many new and unique items. Anyway, back to the carrots. You can also find them at select farmer’s markets and Whole Foods.
Can I use other kinds of carrots for this recipe?
Yes, feel free to use full size carrots, but try to select medium to smaller ones. You could also use baby carrots, but reduce the cooking time. I recently noticed that Trader Joe’s is now selling rainbow baby carrots. They would work great for this recipe a well.
For more delicious vegetable side dish recipes I recommend
Brussels Sprouts with Maple Glaze
Cast Iron Skillet Roasted Petite Rainbow Carrots with Honey Mustard Glaze
Equipment
- cast iron skillet
- oven
Ingredients
- 1 lb. petite rainbow carrots regular carrots or baby can also be used
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard smooth or grainy
- 2 tbsp honey
- salt to taste
- ground black pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F
- Turn stove burner on high heat. Place cast iron skillet on top to heat. Add butter and olive oil. Do this only long enough to melt butter (about 1 minute). Once melted remove skillet from heat and add garlic and salt and pepper to taste.
- Place carrots in skillet and toss in butter mixture and place in skillet in oven on the middle rack. Roast for about 20 minutes until carrots begin to brown. Do not under cook. Keeping the carrots in the cast iron skillet helps put a nice caramelized coating on them.
- While carrots are cooking combine Dijon mustard and honey together in a small bowl and whisk until mixed.
- Once out of the oven slowly drizzle honey mustard mixture on top of the carrots, sprinkle with a handful of fresh thyme, serve and enjoy.
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