Gingered Carrots

While I am all for preparing vegetables in the most simple ways, every now and then you need to spice them up a little.  And Dan tends to enjoy vegetables a wee bit more when they have either spicy flavoring/sauces or if they are component with another dish (such as adding vegetables to baked ziti).  So the other night I found myself 30 minutes before we needed to start dinner hunting for a way to spice up carrots with ingredients that we already have in our cupboards (clearly not a night that we planned ahead) and that would go with the wasabi crusted fish that Dan was preparing.

So it was a lucky find to come across a Gingered Stir Fry recipe on epicurious just in the knick of time.  I made a few minor edits to modify this to be Gingered Carrots.  We were out of ginger root so I just used powdered; I am sure that ginger root would give a wonderful flavor but the powdered worked out well.  Instead of julienne strips, I used the slice option on our grater and made very thin disks.  Overall, it was a very quick and easy veggie side dish and a nice alternative.

Gingered Carrots

Adapted from recipe found on Epicurious

3 tablespoons chicken broth
2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or medium-dry Sherry
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 pound carrots (about 3 medium), cut into julienne strips
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh gingerroot or approximately 1 teaspoon dried ginger

In a bowl stir together broth, rice wine or Sherry, sugar, cornstarch, and salt until combined well. Cut mushroom caps into 1/8-inch-thick slices.

Heat a wok over high heat until hot. Add oil and heat until it just begins to smoke. Stir-fry carrots 3 minutes. Add daikon and stir-fry vegetables 2 minutes. Add mushrooms, cabbage, garlic, and gingerroot and stir-fry 2 minutes, or until carrots are crisp-tender. Stir broth mixture and add to vegetables. Stir-fry vegetables 1 minute.

I added a few peas to ours as I try to sneak them in whenever I can (they are apparently a supercharged veggie bursting with nutrition).  This side dish got the stamp of approval from Dan as he proceeded to eat every bite... and he does not love vegetables! 

Enjoy!

~ Tara