Good for the Tongue

This is finals week, and although I have a couple of papers due on Friday, the rest of my week has been oh-so-carefree! Last night I decided to make a nice dinner, something I haven't had the time or mental energy for (thankfully, Richard likes to cook and has taken on that task). I like to create interesting meals using whatever ingredients are on hand, but I also love trying out new recipes from magazines and cookbooks. Disregard the green beans in this photo, they were NOT on our menu - the carrots, however, are worth paying attention to.The basic recipe came from Martha Stewart's everyday FOOD magazine on page 118 of the May 2008 issue (thanks Jen) with a very slight variation. Here's what you need to do:

Preheat oven to 450'F. (I did mine at 400' because I was nervous about charring eveything. This worked out fine.)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs carrots, cut on the diagonal into 2" lengths and halved lengthwise if thick
• 1 TBSP olive oil
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 TBSP honey

I used about 5 carrots because that's what we had. Toss with the olive oil, sprinkle with pepper. I don't use salt when cooking but I did add a handful of freshly chopped chives from the garden. I baked this for about 15 minutes or so, and then added 4 asparagus stalks from our garden, sliced on the diagonal like the carrots and continued baking for about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and toss with the honey.

We both loved this recipe and I know I'll be making it again. The fun thing was adding the chives and asparagus... it didn't take anything away from the carrots at all. I served this with mixed wild rice and sauteed pork steaks with caramelized onions (my pork steak also had feta cheese) Mmmmm.

Good for the Tongue is a lively reel from the Portland Collection.