Vegetable Side Dish Blog #2—
While I’m on the topic of veggie side dishes, I’m going to continue blogging in that vein for a couple of postings. In this particular post you’re getting a twofer (aka two-for-one.)

Roasting slender carrots whole gives this easy side dish—Roasted Carrots with Blood Orange and Rosemary—a dressy feel, as does using blood oranges, one of my all-time favorite citrus fruits. We recently served it with Steak Diane and Creamy Mashed Cauliflower.

Our carrots were on the heftier side of slender so I roasted them covered in foil for 25 minutes, and after removing the foil, I drizzled the maple syrup all over and cooked for another 25 minutes. Perfect! Although this amount of time may knock it out of contender status for a weeknight.

The savory cauliflower puree (recipe follows) makes a perfect low-carb stand-in for mashed potatoes. It gets its fabulous flavor from garlic, buttermilk and a touch of butter and, best of all, it has about one-quarter of the calories of typical mashed potatoes. Next time I will not add the additional olive oil at the end, as I believe it made the dish just a bit too soupy.

My bad however, was not steaming the garlic cloves with the cauliflower. In my defense, I actually looked at the recipe several times wondering when the garlic was supposed to be added. I saw it mentioned in Step 2, but actually thought it would make more sense to be steamed with the veggie—and of course that was exactly what was supposed to happen. So our mash had a very green garlic intensity instead of the soft mellow taste had it been steamed. Now you have no excuse…

Roasted Carrots with Blood Orange and Rosemary

Buy fresh slender carrots with their greens.

Zest and juice a blood orange.

The color of blood orange juice is so vibrant!

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 lb. slender carrots, peeled and trimmed, leaving a smidge of greens at the top if possible
• 3 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 medium blood orange or regular orange; zest finely grated and juice squeezed
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 Tbs. fresh rosemary leaves
• 1 Tbs. pure maple syrup

Arrange the peeled carrots in a single layer on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet.

In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, mustard, and orange zest.

Roll the carrots in the mustard mixture, season with salt and pepper, then pour the orange juice around the carrots.

After 20 minutes roasting covered with foil, uncover, drizzle with maple syrup and roast, uncovered, until tender and beginning to brown, 15 to 20 minutes more.

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 425°F.
2. Arrange the carrots in a single layer on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, mustard, and orange zest. Pour over the carrots and toss to coat. Season generously with salt and pepper.
4. Pour the orange juice around the carrots. Top with the rosemary. Cover tightly with foil and roast until the carrots are nearly tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
5. Uncover, drizzle with the maple syrup, and roast, uncovered, until tender and beginning to brown, 15 to 20 minutes more. Gently toss, season to taste with salt, and serve.

Carrot recipe by Laraine Perri from Fine Cooking

Creamy Mashed Cauliflower

Ingredients

• 8 cups bite-size cauliflower florets (about 1 head)
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled
• ⅓ cup nonfat buttermilk
• 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 teaspoon butter
• ½ teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• Snipped fresh chives for garnish

Place the cooked cauliflower and garlic in a food processor. Add buttermilk, oil, butter, salt, pepper, and process until smooth and creamy.

Directions

1. Place cauliflower florets and garlic in a steamer basket over boiling water, cover and steam until very tender, 12 to 15 minutes. (Alternatively, place florets and garlic in a microwave-safe bowl with ¼ cup water, cover and microwave on High for 3 to 5 minutes.)
2. Place the cooked cauliflower and garlic in a food processor. Add buttermilk, two teaspoons oil, butter, salt and pepper; pulse several times, then process until smooth and creamy. Transfer to a serving bowl. Drizzle with the remaining 2 teaspoons oil (I would omit this step) and garnish with chives, if desired. Serve hot.

Recipe found on EatingWell.com