Roasted Tri-Colored Baby Carrots

Whether for your family or for company, this is a terrific choice for a simple and very tasty vegetable. I love the way these carrots look, they couldn’t be easier to prepare. Therefore, I predict that they will quickly become a definite go to, no-fail, staple in your rotation.

INGREDIENTS
1 lb. bag of tricolor carrots, Trader Joe’s is a good source
olive oil
1 Tbs. real maple syrup
fresh thyme sprigs
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400º
First, peel and trim the carrots. However, if you are lucky enough to find the ones with the green ends on, don’t cut them off. Those ends add some nice visual interest and texture to the dish. Then, place the carrots on a sheet pan, drizzle with the olive oil and the maple syrup. Add the salt, pepper, fresh thyme sprigs and toss all together to fully coat the carrots.

Spread the carrots out to ensure that they have room to roast properly, rather than just steam.

roasted carrots

Then, bake for about 30 minutes or until mostly tender and slightly browned. This may be done ahead of serving time. Finally, when ready to finish and serve, transfer the carrots to an oven proof serving dish. Then,  return them to the oven for an additional 8- 12 minutes, until fully tender and hot. Lastly, remove them from the oven, sprinkle with some flaky salt and serve.



Chicken Stew

This is perfect for a quick, week-night dinner. Although this is not a fancy dish, to be sure, it is however, very tasty. Additionally, if you have little ones, they will love it too.

INGREDIENTS
4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite size cubes
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 Tbs. butter
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 cup whole, canned tomatoes
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup rice (see notes below)
handful of chopped fresh basil or 1/2 tsp. dried
kosher salt & fresh ground pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350º
First, brown the chicken, onion and pepper in butter and oil, in a heavy dutch oven. Then, add the remaining ingredients, breaking up the tomatoes, stir well, to combine and bring the mixture to a light boil. Next, transfer the pot to the preheated oven and bake for 30-40 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed. Finally, serve this stew with a simple salad and some crusty bread or toasted pita bread. A sprinkle of parmesan cheese is a nice addition as well.

NOTES
I usually use basmati rice for this, however a brown rice or any long grain rice, also works well. The brown rice stands up nicely to a longer cooking time and obviously adds additional fiber and nutrition. Choose what you prefer or simply what you have on hand.



Vanishing Oatmeal Cookies

You will be surprised at how good these cookies are, they are so much better than just any oatmeal cookie. They are called “Vanishing Oatmeal Cookies” for a very good reason. Whether hot out of the oven or cooled and a bit crispy, with a cup of coffee or tea, these are very hard to resist.

Now, I must tell you that I didn’t come up with that name for these on my own. These are adapted from and I believe, improved upon, a Quaker Oats recipe of the same name.

INGREDIENTS
2 sticks butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1-1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
3 cups oatmeal
1 cup dried cranberries

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375º
Beat sugars and butter until smooth. Then add the eggs, vanilla and mix well. Then, add the next four ingredients and mix well again. Next, add the oatmeal and cranberries and stir until well combined. Drop by teaspoonful on an ungreased sheet pan and bake for 10-12 minutes or until browned to your liking. Cool for a minute or two on the sheet pan and then move to a rack to cool.

NOTES
If you prefer, you can certainly make these into bars, rather than cookies. put in 13″ x 9″ metal pan and bake for 30-35 minutes.

TIPS
Also, I want to share a secret, maybe you already do this. However, I’m sharing for all of you that have not tried this and I think it is a game-changer. This little trick comes in very handy when I’m baking with the little ones and don’t want to have 3 dozen cookies in the house, because I can’t stop eating them!.

So, here it is. I make the cookie batter, cook what I want…maybe just one sheet pan full, for a small get together or just enough for me and my helpers. Then, I scoop out the remainder of the dough onto a sheet pan. Put as many on the pan as you can fit, then pop them into the freezer.

oatmeal cookies

Finally, after about 30 minutes in the freezer, pull them out, remove from the sheet pan and place them in a zippered plastic bag. Make sure to mark the cookie name, cooking instructions, and the date. That way, you can pull them out, at a moment’s notice and bake however many you want. I do this with all of my cookie batters, it’s a good way to keep us from eating two dozen in short order! Additionally, it is nice to have a selection of two or three to pick from at any given time.