Agave Glazed Carrots

Winter carrots can be a bit….well, disappointing.  I use plenty of them, mostly in soups and stews, but as a side dish they seem to need a bit of a boost.  Since I don’t care for sticky-sweet carrots, I’ve found a way to get a light sweet glaze and some bright flavor that is so simple to do I end up doing it often.  If you have an orange rather than a tangerine you can substitute, but the distinctive flavor of tangerine is an impressive flavor match for carrots.  As far as natural sweeteners go Agave Nectar ranks high with me, and I’ll reach for it faster than I do my honey for cooking.  If you haven’t tried it yet, this is a good place to start!

 Agave Glazed Carrots Recipe:  (serves 4 as a side dish)

Ingredients:

• 5 medium sized carrots, peeled and sliced (2 cups)
• 1 tangerine, juiced (1/4 cup/seeds removed)
• 1 tsp.  zest from  the tangerine  
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp blue agave nectar
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• Chopped flat-leaf parsley as optional garnish

Directions:

• Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan, bring to a simmer. 
• Cover and cook at a simmer for 5 – 7 minutes, until the carrots are quite tender.
• Uncover and continue to simmer for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. When the liquid has evaporated and the carrots are lightly glazed, remove from the heat.
• Taste carefully for salt and pepper (the sugar from the nectar can burn!)
• Serve immediately, or take off the heat, cover and set aside for a few minutes until ready to serve.

The sharp flavor of freshly ground black pepper really brings this quick one-pot recipe together in a surprising way  -   pre-ground just isn’t the same!

Add minced flat leaf parsley as a garnish if you like – enjoy!