Honey Mustard Glazed Carrots

This recipe happened in the usual way: by accident!  I had run into the grocery for a bag of spinach to add to the southwestern chicken subs I was making for dinner.  As I wandered down the produce counter small multicolored carrots were on sale.  Who can resist such colorful carrots all washed up and bagged?  My mind went 6 different directions, trying to decide how I wanted them in a side dish for dinner.

My first thought was to use the chicken broth that had been patiently sitting in the fridge for a few days.  I imagined chicken noodle soup made with colored carrots and a bag of vegetable noodles.  So much color in one bowl of soup!  But I was using my thawed chicken breasts for the subs and didn’t have time to thaw more so I instead decided to roast those lovely carrots.

Multi-colored Carrots

Mmmm.. imagine the smell of carrots roasted with a little rosemary, some Dijon mustard, and a little honey.  Roasted until they were browned in places and oh so tender.  I looked over a lot of recipes and sort of, mostly kinda, used a recipe from the Flavour and Savour site.  I made changes based what I had on hand and what I preferred.

The colorful carrots were in all sizes and for even roasting I had to slice some in half.  I put them into a large measuring pitcher as I sliced.

Place ingredients in a bowl with the carrots

I chose to dump all of my glaze ingredients right into the pitcher, on top of the carrots.  I’d done dishes twice that day and didn’t want another bowl.  So it was lazy of me but it worked out just fine.  I used a large slotted spoon and tossed and stirred until all of the carrots looked to be evenly coated with the glaze ingredients.

Place carrots on parchment covered baking pan

I put a sheet of parchment paper on a sheet pan and spread the carrots out so they weren’t touching.  A note on the recipe’s site suggested they would caramelize better if they all had easy access to heat.  Her carrots didn’t look like they had any browned and caramelized spots however.  Hm.

Roast for 20-25 minutes or until browned in places

I let the carrots roast at 425°F until they were indeed browned in places.  I love that flavor and was making sure I’d get the full effects of roasting in each bite!

Honey Mustard Glazed Carrots

I served the carrots in a side dish to accompany our subs and we totally loved them.  Such great flavors, a person should put this recipe on their menu at least once a week.  Of course the carrots could just be regular orange, ordinary, everyday carrots.  The colored ones weren’t any differently flavored that we could tell, especially covered in mustard, honey and rosemary.  Four thumbs up!

Roasted Carrots with Honey Mustard Glaze

15 small, multicolored carrots
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped (I used dried rosemary)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
Optional: chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Scrub the carrots. Cut larger ones in half lengthwise if necessary so that carrots are uniform sizes and place them in a large bowl.  My carrot sizes varied wildly so I had to equalize them somewhat.

In a separate bowl whisk olive oil, garlic, rosemary, mustard, honey, salt and pepper.  Pour over carrots and toss with hands or a spoon to coat carrots thoroughly.

Spread the carrots on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet so that they are not touching for best caramelization.

Roast for 20-25 minutes, turning occasionally until tender and nicely browned in places.

Garnish with fresh chopped parsley if desired.

2 servings

Adapted from Flavor and Savour