Carrot Home Fries: healthy and satisfying.

I’m always looking for ways to make food that’s both good for you and satisfying. I like a little bit of grease every now and again too. It builds character.

I find myself messing around with vegan food a lot. It’s not that I am one (although I tried briefly). I just find that we throw around animal products willy-nilly too often when we cook. I'm a big believer in respecting the animal that gave its life in order to sustain us. So I like to experiment with alternatives.

I do a lot of vegan baking using coconut milk and oil and I’ve had great success. Okay you have to have a real fondness for coconut if you use a lot of coconut milk. But non virgin coconut oil stays relatively flavour neutral while still imparting that richness that's reminiscent of butter, lard, or duck fat.

There’s talk that coconut oil is the cure for most of what ails you and your pet. But even if you’re skeptical that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use it when you’re baking or, as used in today’s dish, frying. It has a high smoke point so there’s less of a chance of setting fire to your house (just saying).

I highly recommend using a cast iron skillet when making this dish. The food cooks more evenly and allows greater control of heat to the cook. A regular frying pan is fine just make sure you heat up the pan slowly.

Carrot Home Fries

• Half an onion per serving, chopped.

• A teaspoon of coconut oil per serving.

• Four or five carrots per serving, cut into thumb sized quarters.

• Leaves from a small sprig of rosemary* chopped.

• A clove of garlic per serving, grated.

• 1/8 of a teaspoon of paprika per serving.

• Sea salt.

• A grind or two of pepper.

*You don’t want a ton of rosemary in this dish as it will overpower the carrots. The amount shown in the image above is about enough rosemary to compliment the other flavours nicely. You can always add more if you're serving a crowd but add slowly.

Heat skillet over low heat. Add the coconut oil to the pan. Gradually raise the heat so that oil is just shimmering.

Add onions to the skillet along with a small pinch of sea salt. You should hear a sizzle coming from the pan. Stir constantly. Soften the onions so they turn translucent. Add carrots to the onions. Cook for a few minutes so that the outside of the carrots start to soften.

Add the rosemary and paprika to the pan. Turn down the heat to medium low before slowly adding the garlic. Make sure the garlic doesn’t burn. Stir. There’s no need to rush.

Cook on low until the carrots are just cooked through (al dente). Taste. Add a pinch or two of salt and pepper.

Watch the pan closely as you bring the heat back up to high. Gently brown the carrots. Serve.

I like to crack an egg on top of the home fries, turn off the heat, and cover. I check the pan every two or three minutes. The egg tends to be set within seven minutes.

#Vegan #Vegatables #BreakfastBrunch