Sunday mornings, after a civilized breakfast and coffee, I head to Tonopah Rob’s local farmer’s market. Tables loaded down with the freshest produce, citrus, free-range eggs. Don Roy, owner of Don’s Cutting Edge, brought my knives back to their original edge, while Ildi Schmidt, owner of Salsa Ildi, treated me to some of the best salsa I’ve had in a long time…a mouthful of fresh vegetables, then a deep, dark flush of smoky heat.
Carrots are always at the top of my shopping list – colorful, crunchy and a hundred miles from what you’d find in a super market. My diabetic client will find them on the menu in a great side dish.
Lemon-Glazed Baby Carrots
Served 4
1 pound baby carrots*
1/4C chicken or vegetable stock 
1T butter
1T brown sugar
1T fresh lemon juice
1/2t lemon zest
1/4t salt
fresh ground pepper to taste
1T finely chopped parsley or chives
In a medium saucepan, cover the carrots with salted water by 1″. Bring to full boil, cook until fork-tender, about 7-9 minutes. Drain then return to the saucepan.
Add stock, butter, brown sugar, lemon juice, zest, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring now and then, for 3-5 minutes or until the liquid has evaporated and the carrots are beautifully glazed. Garnish with parsley or chives and serve.
*Most “baby carrots” are simply regular carrots shaved to look…ahh…cute. As long as you’re cutting your carrots into pieces of similar shapes and sizes, you can use any sort of carrots.
Recipe, courtesy of “America’s Everyday Diabetes Cookbook” by Katherine Younker
Carrot pic, courtesy of me.
Kent McDonald is a Certified Personal Chef, living and working in Phoenix, AZ. (c) All rights reserved, 2011.
