Thyme Carrots

There are some vegetables that are synonymous with Autumn. No, I am not talking about Pumpkin. Carrots, in my own humble opinion, are a great vegetable to eat year round but, especially in the fall. I suppose it may be the orange colouring but carrots have always reminded me of fall. 

Ingredients

1 1/2Lbs carrots, cut into half inch slices. - You can choose to go for regular orange fleshed carrots. Or, if you want a splash of colour, opt for one of the many coloured heirloom carrot varieties. I like the purple carrots myself.

1 tablespoon Butter or margarine - for sauteeing the carrots.

4 sprigs Thyme - I love fresh thyme but if you do not have any, you can always use dried thyme. The flavour might not be as strong with dried so adjust the amount accordingly.

1/2c water

Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

In a large skillet, melt the butter or margarine over a medium heat. Add the thyme and water. Stir to blend the water and butter. Bring to a low simmer.

Add the chopped carrots. If your margarine or butter is unsalted, feel free to add some salt if desired. I like to add at the table rather than in the water myself.

Raise the heat to high and bring the carrots to a boil. Cook, stirring frequently, until the liquid has been absorbed. The carrots should be tender. This took me twelve minutes.

Notes

If your carrots are particularly large, first, cut them in half lengthwise and then cut them into half inch slices. Cutting them into smaller pieces can help larger carrots to cook through quicker. Remember the larger carrots may look nice but, they tend to be woodier and take longer to cook.

The original recipe said to boil the carrots for nine minutes but I like mine cooked through enough that they can be pierced by a fork and no longer have that crunch.

Growing up in the country we always had a huge garden. Now that I live in the city, I find I miss garden fresh vegetables. I do not have a huge yard to start a garden and even if I did, it does not get enough light to do very well. I have many plants inside the house and have had luck with my container garden scattered throughout the house.

The end of the season is when we usually had a lot of carrots. So much so that if we had this recipe every day for a month, we would still have a ton of carrots. The left over vegetables were cut up and used for mixed pickles,

If I can find the recipe for the mixed vegetable carrots I will try to post it. Whenever I get a craving for pickles, I am always let down. The store bought stuff never quite seems the same as homemade pickles.

I remember my grandmother pickling anything she could. She grew up during the depression and did they ever know how to make sure they had food during the winter. I guess I follow along with that tradition.

A friend gave me a flat of melons that I had never seen before. They were Korean melons and I had no idea what to do with all of them. My friend told me that back in Korea they pickled them in a hot pickling sauce. I had to try it. These Korean melons tasted a little like a mild cantaloupe but not as sweet and when pickled were amazing. I will remember to post the recipe at a later time.