Friday, February 24, 2012

Roasted Baby Carrots

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Spring is one of the best times of the year for baby carrots.  They are sweet and not as pithy as the larger carrots.  For this recipe it is important to use baby carrots that are sold in bunches rather than   the small capsule-shaped 'baby' carrots that are sold in bags.  You can prepare the carrots, put them in the oven to roast and finish preparing the rest of your meal.

 Cleo, Food Bank volunteer

 

 

 Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 lbs of 5 inch long baby carrots, carefully washed, patted dry, greens cropped to 1 inch above top of carrot
  • 1 medium red onion, peeled, cut lengthwise (root to top) into 8-12 wedges
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp fresh chopped rosemary, or 1 teaspoon of dried rosemary
  • Garlic powder (or fresh minced garlic added to the olive oil)
  • Salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper

Method

1 Preheat oven to 400°F. Gently toss together the carrots, red onion, rosemary to coat with the olive oil. Lay out on a rimmed baking pan, lined with aluminum foil. Sprinkle with garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

 2 Roast for 30 to 40 minutes on middle rack or bottom rack, until well browned.

Serves 4.

Recipe source

Friday, February 17, 2012

Applesauce Carrot Cake

Photo source

This recipe makes one of the best carrot cakes--moist, flavorful and with much fewer calories than most carrot cakes.  The secret is using applesauce as a substitute for most of the oil called for in other recipes.  And of course you want a cream cheese frosting.  Most of the recipes for that include butter as well as the cream cheese--but it is not really needed--and  I also greatly reduced the amount of powdered sugar.

Cleo, Food Bank volunteer   

 

Ingredients


    • 2 cups whole grain flour
    • 1/2 cup sugar
    • 2 teaspoons baking soda
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
    • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
    • 1/4 cup olive oil
    • 3 large eggs
    • 3 cups carrots, coarsely chopped

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine, flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.

2. In a separate small bowl, combine the applesauce, oil and eggs. Add to the flour mixture, stirring until the ingredients are well blended. Add the carrots and mix again.

3. Pour the batter into a greased 9" tube pan, or use a 9" x 13" rectangular cake pan, or two bread loaf pans, or a cupcake pan.

4. Bake the cake in a preheated 350° F oven for about 1 hour, 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the thickest part of the cake comes out clean. Set the cake on a wire rack for five minutes. Then, run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the cake, and turn the cake out onto the rack to cool.

Serves 16.
CALORIES: 145.8  |  FAT: 5.7g  |  PROTEIN: 3.6g  |  CARBS: 21.5g  |  FIBER: 2.9g