These delicious glazed carrots are bursting with flavours! Jazzed up with caraway seeds, a honey ginger dressing and topped with nuts, crispy sage leaves and dried barberries, they will shine on your festive table.
The Flavour Affair:
Carrots + Caraway seeds + Ginger + Honey + Lemon + Sage + Parsley
It is amazing how a humble vegetable like a carrot can totally steal the show when enlivened with spices and an array of supporting ingredients. This carefully curated selection aims to enhance the dish with all major flavour components – sweet, salty, sour, bitter and pungent.
Carrots: for the best results and an impressive presentation, use baby carrots with green tops.
Caraway seeds: they have a complex, warming taste with a distinctive fresh note reminiscent of anise. They harden when heated, providing an irresistibly crunchy coating to roasted or fried vegetables. If you don’t have caraway seeds, you can swap them with fennel or dill seeds.
Ginger: I use ginger juice in the dressing to enhance the flavour profile with warm, aromatic pungency.
Lemon: contributes with sour citrus-y notes that brighten the dish up.
Honey: balances the sharp aspects of the dressing with a floral sweetness.
Sage: crispy fried sage leaves have a slightly bitter taste that helps round off the flavours.
Parsley: adds fresh, aromatic, peppery notes.
You can continue to build the dish up and add further ingredients for an even better taste and look. For instance, scatter over toasted walnuts, pecans, and/or sunflower kernels for extra crunch and a few dried barberries or pomegranate jewels for a hint of tartness.
Preparation Tips for Glazed Carrots with Caraway Seeds and Honey Ginger Dressing:
Start with preparing the dressing and the toppings so that you have everything at hand:
- Heat a pan to medium and dry toast nuts and kernels until smelling amazing, then transfer to a plate to cool down.
- In the same pan, melt a little butter and a little oil and fry the sage leaves until they become crispy. Drain excess oil by placing them onto a paper towel.
- Whisk together the dressing ingredients and set aside.
- Wash and chop fresh parsley.
Now to the carrots:
- The quickest way is to parboil them for just a few minutes until they have softened a little but remained crunchy.
- After that, melt butter in a pan and stir in some brown sugar until it dissolves.
- Add caraway seeds and carrots and cook for a few minutes, tossing around so that the carrots are all coated with the delicious, sweet & crunchy glaze. Done!
- Transfer the carrots to a serving plate and start jazzing them up. Drizzle over the dressing, scatter around nuts, seeds and berries, sprinkle with chopped parsley and arrange the sage leaves on top.
Enjoy these amazing carrots as a side to roasted meats or a beautiful addition to your festive table. Looking for more dressy vegetable sides? Check out my Roasted Beets and Persimmon Salad or Brussels Sprouts with Apple Reduction!
.
Glazed Carrots with Caraway Seeds and Honey Ginger Dressing
Equipment
- 1 deep pot
- 1 large pan
- 1 Serving plate
- 1 medium pan
Ingredients
- 2 bunches of baby carrots
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 40g butter
- 1 tbsp brown sugar or maple syrup
- 1 tsp caraway seeds see notes
- 1 tsp fennel seeds optional
For the dressing:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tbsp fresh ginger juice
- 1 tsp raw honey
- a pinch of salt
Toppings:
- a handful of fresh sage leaves
- 1 tsp each butter and olive oil
- 1 tbsp crushed walnuts or pecans
- 1 tsp sunflower kernels
- 1 tsp dried barberries see notes
- 1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
Instructions
- Start by preparing your toppings. Heat medium pan to medium and dry toast nuts and sunflower kernels. Remove and let cool.
- In the same pan, melt a tea spoon of butter with a tea spoon of oil. Add sage leave and fry for a minute of each side until they become crispy. Transfer to a paper towel.
- Chop parsley.
- Prepare the dressing by whisking together 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1/2 tbsp ginger juice* and 1 tsp raw honey. Taste and adjust to perfection.
- Peel the carrots and trim the greens.
- In a large pot, bring water to boil. Season with 1/2 tsp salt.
- Boil the carrots for 2-3 minutes, until they start to soften but remain crunchy. Drain.
- In a large pan, melt the butter and stir in the sugar or maple syrup.
- Add the caraway seeds and the carrots. Cook for a few minutes, tossing around and turning the carrots so that they are coated from all sides.
- Transfer the carrots to a serving plate. Top with toasted nuts, seeds and barberries and drizzle over the dressing. Then add the chopped parsley and finally arrange the crispy sage leaves on top.
Notes
- You can substitute caraway seeds for dill seeds.
- Instead of dried barberries, you can use 1tbsp fresh pomegranate jewels.
