peas 'n carrots

you know how there are allegedly 5 food groups? well, until the end of february, we only ate really 4 of them: meat, potatoes, bread, and cheese. ...hmmm, maybe most of those aren't actually food "groups." (cheese *should* be a food group, though, don't you think?) ok, so we only SORT OF ate from 4 of those 5 food groups. anyway, that was then. now since i make dinner almost every night, i've been trying to work a variety of fruits and vegetables into our meals.

we're fully into the swing of spring, so more and more fruits and vegetables are appearing at the saturday farmers' market. over the last few weeks, two vegetables in particular we've enjoyed quite a bit are sugar snap peas and baby carrots. i usually get the snap peas from iacopi farms and baby carrots from star route farms (who also has the BEST lettuce ever: little gems, which are heirloom baby romaines.)

[btw, by "baby carrots," i mean actual baby carrots, not those cut and reshaped-into-small-nib normal carrots that are sold in bags as "baby carrots" at the grocery store.]

we had both snap peas and carrots tonight with our ny strip steaks from marin sun farms. for the snap peas, i blanched then sauteed them with a little lime zest and extra virgin olive oil; as for the carrots, i glazed them with some raw honey from marshall farms and a little bit of straus creamery butter. recipes below. enjoy!


Sugar Snap Peas with Citrus-Zest Olive Oil
1 pound sugar snap peas, ends trimmed
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Freshly grated zest from 1/2 lime or lemon
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Have ready a large bowl of ice water. In a large saucepan, bring salted water to boil. Blanch snap peas for 1 minute, then drain and immerse in ice water. Drain peas again. In a medium skillet, heat oil over medium heat with zest, then add snap peas and stir until heated through. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serves 4.


Raw-Honey Glazed Baby Carrots
1 lb baby carrots, carrot greens trimmed to 1/4"
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp raw honey

Preheat oven to 375 deg. On stovetop, melt butter with honey in a baking dish until butter is melted; stir to combine. Add carrots, toss to coat evenly, then place in oven. Bake for 5-10 minutes or until carrots are just tender. Serves 4.