Nurturing my inner... glazed over

There they sat.  In my refrigerator.  Staring at me.  Smugly.  Every time I cracked the door in the search of something less healthy.  Half a bag of baby carrots.  Left over from another dish.  Circle of truth: I really don't love carrots.  (I'm no rabbit.)  They bore me.  I mean, sure, I technically will eat all vegetables, but the slightly sweet, orange sticks just don't light my taste buds on fire.  So I often pass them over for veggies I like better.

Oh, I did my best to ignore them in there next to the cheese sticks.  Another day passed.  And another.  But there they remained each and every time I went in for some cranberry juice.  Taunting me with... a challenge.

No way I was going to let them go bad, so I had to find some new flavor idea to jazz them up with and make them more palatable.  (To me.)

Ginger-Glazed Carrots

1/2 lb baby carrots
1 heaping tsp fresh ginger, grated
2 tbsps butter
2 tbsps light brown sugar
Dash of salt
Dash of nutmeg
Squeeze of lemon

I know, they look harmless.  They are just carrots.  Baby ones at that.  But I'd rather be eating spinach, broccoli, asparagus or anything green.

Eh, they don't thrill me.

Instead of breaking out the stand alone steamer, I just used my metal basket in a pan.  And steamed them for 20 minutes or until just a little tender.  Not squishy.

Easy enough.

Out came the microplane and I shredded up the ginger after peeling it.  That very sharp microplane made for fast work.

The juices are really released with this technique.

You have to watch your fingers though.  Microplanes are very, very sharp.  But they are amazing.  The texture can't truly be matched by mincing, so pony up the dough and invest in one.

Perhaps I went a bit overboard. I'll save
some of it for another dish.

So ginger covered the spicy category, now I needed a sweet element for balance.

And heck, adding butter always helps.

Into a saute pan I put the butter, brown sugar, salt, nutmeg and ginger.  Then turned it on medium heat to melt slowly and infuse the fat with the flavors.

Seems like an unlikely blend. Yet, it works.

In just a few minutes, everything melts, caramelizes and creates this wonderful, light syrup.

Don't turn the heat too high and burn it.
(That's a spoon shadow.)

In went the steamed carrots, right into the same pan, on top of the bubbling sauce.

Precooking them partly means they will
be perfectly done in the end.

I tossed the carrots in the glaze, made sure each one was well coated, and then let them simmer for about 10 additional minutes, stirring occasionally.  I turned off the flame and gave them a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

You wouldn't believe the fresh ginger aroma.

The extra cooking time was long enough to soften the carrots just a little bit more and for them to really absorb the sweet and spicy flavors.  I got three servings out of the batch, but if you love carrots, (unlike me), you may get more like two.

Went nicely with my chicken tenders and rice.

My crazy plan worked.  I made carrots I thought were actually (slightly to my genuine surprise) terrific.  They pair best with mild meats and starches because they provide the perfect hot kick with the ginger.

So, ha-HA!  You carrots did not get the best of me!  (I do realize I just taunted a vegetable.  I need therapy.)