This Charming Kitchen

So - in keeping with my New Year's resolutions, I have been really, really trying to eat better.  And not just eat more healthfully but also to eat more creatively.

One thing that I've decided to do is to try to go mostly vegetarian at home and on the weekends.  I do this anyway at home but I end up eating the same couple of things (pasta, beans and rice) all the time. The challenge is to try to incorporate new and different dishes and lots of different fruits and vegetables going forward.  Come March, I'm going to get VERY acquainted with the farmer's market.

Having made this decision, I've been keeping an eye out for recipes that are quick, healthy and vegetarian! 

I found this recipe over at Orangette (whom I love and wish posted more but I think she's got a life so I won't complain tooooo much).

This is her French host mother's recipe for Skillet Carrots with Onions and Thyme.  I made it the other night and it wasn't as good as I wanted it to be - but I blame myself.  Her recipe calls for yellow onions and I used a white one because that's what I had.  I also used dried thyme and I think fresh would definitely be better - and my pitiful little bottle of red wine vinegar is so old - well it's just pitiful.  You can't have a good outcome if your ingredients aren't the best.   I am undaunted, though and am determined to make this a 'go to' dish from now on.  Carrots are great for you and I always have them around so I'm going to start doing these a lot.

Here's Molly's recipe (in her own words):

Skillet Carrots with Onions and Thyme

My host mother used regular orange carrots, but I like to use purple and yellow ones, too, when I can find them. They keep their color when cooked, so they make the dish especially handsome. Whatever carrots you use, make sure that they taste sweet in their raw state: a dull, bitter carrot cannot be fixed. I don’t bother to peel my carrots, but I do wash them well.

Also, for this recipe, I like to slice my onions from stem end to root end, like this, so that they keep their shape and integrity as they cook. When you slice onions the other way – across their equators, you could say – they tend to fall apart during cooking.

Olive oil
1 yellow onion, halved and sliced from root to stem, like this
Salt
2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 lb. carrots, sliced into ¼-inch-thick rounds
4 to 5 fresh thyme sprigs
½ tsp. red wine vinegar, or to taste

Warm a large skillet over medium-high heat. When it’s hot, add a good amount of olive oil, enough to film the bottom of the pan. Add the onions – they should sizzle – stir to coat with oil. Salt lightly. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are softened but not browned. Add the garlic, reduce the heat to medium, and cook for a few more minutes, until the garlic is fragrant. Add the carrots, thyme, and a couple of generous pinches of salt, and stir to mix. If the carrots look dry, add a little more oil to lightly coat them; this dish needs more oil than you might think. Cover the pan and continue to cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the carrots are tender and the onions are very soft. (I never seem to pay attention to how long this takes, but I would guess that it takes somewhere between 10 and 20 minutes.) Remove the pan from the heat, and discard the thyme sprigs. Sprinkle the vinegar over the carrots. Stir gently to incorporate: the vinegar should subtly brighten the flavor of the carrots without being discernible itself. Add more vinegar, if needed, and salt to taste.

Serve hot.
Yield: 4 to 6 servings

If anyone else makes them, please let me in on your outcome!
Image:  Carrots by Allsopp Imagery.