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Saturday, October 13, 2012

Creamy Carrots


Carrots + sour cream = my family's new favorite vegetable side dish.  Seriously, this is the ONLY vegetable I make that when if there are leftovers, Jesse claims them as his own.  Which is unfortunate for him because we have a "first come first serve" leftover policy in this house and I'm faster than him. Sucker.

But since this recipe is so popular with my family and also any friends I've served it to, I thought I'd share.


First you grab yourself some carrots.  Bonus points if you pull them from your garden.  As an aside, does anyone else think carrots are kind of a useless thing to plant in the garden?  They are so cheap at the store AND for all the work of planting and growing them, I only got enough to make two batches of this recipe.  Worth it or no?  I'm undecided...


Anyways, carrots.

Jessica's Creamy Carrots
(adapted from a recipe in my Nourishing Traditions cookbook)

7-10 carrots
Generous drizzle of olive oil
Yummy glob of sour cream
Splash of salt



Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Cut a bunch of carrots into 1-inch chunks.  Enough to fill the bottom of a 13x9 pan in a single layer.  If you're like me then you are too lazy to peel carrots.  But washing them is probably a good idea.  Drizzle them generously with olive oil and toss those puppies in the oven.

It takes a little while long while.  At least 45 minutes, sometimes an hour.  Just check them periodically... stirring them around and whatnot.  They should be browned and tender, but not burned.  Obviously.



Then pour the entire carrot-olive-oil-baked-deliciousness into a food processor, blender, or bowl.  And throw a bunch of sour cream and a dash of salt in there.

Don't be afraid of sour cream people!  "Research has shown that regular consumption of cultured dairy products lowers cholesterol and protects against bone loss.  In addition, cultured dairy products provide beneficial bacteria and lactic acid to the digestive tract.  These friendly creatures and their by-products keep pathogens at bay, guard against infectious illness and aid in the fullest possible digestion of all food we consume.  Perhaps this is why so many traditional societies value fermented milk products for their health-promoting properties and insist on giving them to the sick, the aged, and nursing mothers."  (Sally Fallon, Nourishing Traditions, pg. 81)

We eat a lot of full fat, cultured dairy in this house.  Yogurt, sour cream, butter, etc.  I know it's a bit controversial, since we're all told to avoid fat like the plague.  But I think there's wisdom in kicking it old school... I think our bodies need good sources of fat and I disagree with where the FDA says those "good fats" can come from.  Call me crazy if you want.  I get it a lot.  "Crazy hippie."

Here's a cool blog series about fat if you want to read more from another hippie.


So about those carrots.  You just whizz them into a glorious mush with your immersion blender.  I have this Hamilton Beach Immersion Blender that my sis-in-law got me and I LOVE it!  You can puree soups right in the pot.  Or make homemade salsa super fast.  (Or baby food.  This puppy made all of Sam's baby food.  I would just take whatever it was we were eating that night and process it to smithereens for her.)


Ta-da!  Salmon cakes, brown rice, and a carrot side dish your family will love!  I promise.  It's so good!  My girls' always ask for "MORE PEEEESE!"

4 comments:

  1. I know, I'm commenting on a post that was for forever ago! :) But, I just tried (that's a big fat TRIED) to make these last night (didn't go well) and I was re-reading the post to see how to make them. I just have to say...Dude, I LOVE growing carrots!! Sure they take up a ton of space and don't yield a lot if your space is limited (which mine is), but there is something so fun about going out to the garden and seeing what comes up. You never know what the carrot is going to look like until you dig it up, it's kind of exciting to me! :) I'm thinking about doing potatoes this year...and onions are fun too!!

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    1. What didn't go well about them? The boys didn't like 'em? Kudos to you for trying potatoes and onions... I'm curious to see how it goes. Root veggies are intimidating to me cause I have zero experience growing them!

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  2. Yeah...I may have put a little too much sour cream...I'm not even really sure why I tried them in the first place, Adam doesn't like carrots and despises sour cream. I didn't think they were that bad, but I think a little less sour cream next time maybe would make them better.

    The way I figure...I don't really have much experience with growing anything so why not. I did onions last year and they were smaller than expected, but really good. And, I just pinned a potato tower idea that I might give a try that will save some room.

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    1. I'm laughing that you would even try the recipe if Adam hates all the ingredients! But then again, maybe he'd like them married together? ;o)

      Good luck with your garden adventure this year. And good attitude about trying new things! I think we're going to try vine beans this year instead of bush beans.

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