Honey Maple Pomegranate Carrots
So what do you do over the holidays? You make delicious meals, of course! For my dad's 60th birthday I wanted to make sure that we had veggies to accompany the prime rib so I tried another Pinterest recipe.
Ingredients:
2 pounds carrots, peeled and sliced on a long angle into pieces approximately 3 inches long (I actually used a 2 lb bag of baby carrots and sliced them in half longways).
2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
2 tablespoon honey
1 ½ teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon thinly sliced fresh chives
½ cup pomegranate arils or seeds (If you are intimidated by the pomegranate, here is a blog on how to get the arils out of the fruit: http://thecafesucrefarine.com/2013/11/how-to-de-seed-a-pomegranate/)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 450˚F. Lightly oil a sheet pan.
Place carrots, maple syrup, honey, coriander, sea salt and pepper in a large bowl. Toss to coat (I like to use my hands for this to get them well coated, but a spatula will work too). Spread carrots out on pan in a single layer. (NOTE: I thought that the honey and maple syrup flavor could have been stronger but feel free to add more and taste-test before baking).
Roast for 10 minutes, then stir to redistribute. Return to oven and roast for another 15-20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Carrots are finished when they are tender and some of the edges are caramelized.
Sprinkle sesame seeds and herbs over carrots and stir. Taste and season with a bit more sea salt and pepper, if needed.Transfer to a serving bowl and scatter with the pomegranate arils. Serve hot.
Chris' rating: 4/5. I would make these again but add more honey and syrup so that flavor comes through more. They were an easy side-dish and I thought the addition of the pomegranates gave them a different flavor and a nice pop!