Balsamic Roasted Carrots

Hello everyone!  This post is brought to you from the kitchen of my boyfriend, Ben.  Every year, Ben and I do our best to try and make it to each other's Thanksgiving dinner.  Sadly, in the three and a half years of dating, I have only been able to make it to two of his.  His family gatherings are always difficult for me.  His family are big meat eaters and most of them are strictly meat and potatoes people, so I always have a hard time eating at these events.  On the menu for this year was ham, turkey, mixed veggies, cream of asparagus and crab soup, and chicken broth stuffing. Lets count how many of these foods I can eat...ONE.  So this year I decided that if I was going to be able to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner, I was going to have to cook some of it myself.  I made my famous Thanksgiving Mashed Potatoes, stuffing with out chicken broth, balsamic roasted carrots, and a pumpkin pie.

Then the stuffing incident happened.  Here is the set up: There are two bowls of stuffing that started out the same, as we both used the store bought-in-the-bag stuffing.  Ben's sister prepared hers using sweet butter, onions, and chicken broth. I prepared mine with salt butter, and water.  We are all sitting down to dinner, and Ben's dad asked us which stuffing was the vegetarian one.  We pointed it out, and right in front of my face he takes a big scoop of the other one. I WAS FUMING! I can't remember the last time I had felt so insulted.  Just because I made my stuffing with water instead of chicken, you would touch it, not even TRY a taste?  Ironically, my stuffing my have been vegetarian, but the non-vegetarian one is the only one that had actual VEGETABLES in it!  How can someone be so closed minded and rude?  Don't get me wrong, I love Ben's family, and his dad has always been very gracious towards me, buying me clothes, dinner, and letting me stay over at his house, and I am thankful for that. But I am still mad about how he acted, and I am still hurt.

Anyway, this post isn't about stuffing, it is about balsamic roasted carrots.  I wanted to make another veggie for the dinner, and since Ben hate broccoli  and loves carrots, I opted to go a different rout than my own Thanksgiving dinner.  I found this recipe, just changed it a smidgen, and decided to give it a go!

Here's what I used (by mistake I deleted the photo of all the ingredients, sorry!):
8 medium carrots

1/4t freshly grated nutmeg
1T balsamic vinegar
1t brown sugar
2T olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
Dried parsley flakes

Here's what I did:

Preheat oven to 425.
Peel the carrots, cut them in half, and then slice them down the center lengthwise
Place the carrots in a casserole dish and spread them out
Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg
In a small bowl, stir together balsamic and brown sugar until combined. Add olive oil. Drizzle the whole mixture over carrots. Toss to coat
Roast for 25-30 minutes, or until carrots are crisp-tender and caramelized (cooking times can vary depending on the thickness of your carrots).
Sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley. Serve immediately.









I loved these! They had a nice flavor from the vinegar, with just a bit of sweetness.  Definitely different,t but still very good!  They were super easy to make, and that makes them a winner in my book.  These are a great addition to a Thanksgiving dinner, or just an easy meal at home.

Will you be trying out these balsamic roasted carrots?  Have you ever had a situation where someone inadvertently insulted you, your cooking, or vegetarianism?

Bye from the Veggie Side!