Moroccan Spiced Carrots

I felt like doing something new with carrots. These past three weeks of eating "clean" have been challenging, but actually rewarding. I can fit into my 4's again! I haven't lost much weight but I'm assuming my "fat" (what little there is of it) is being shifted to "muscle" (which I already had). I've been steaming the hell out of broccoli, cauliflower and carrots and have not been seasoning them (at least not with salt) so my taste buds have been begging for something new.

So without further ado...Moroccan Spiced Carrots
(bastardized adapted from a recipe I found on the internet - forgot the site)

Ingredients:

2 tbsp pine nuts (I didn't have any so I skipped this step)
1 tbsp cumin seeds (I didn't have any so I just used cumin POWDER)
1/4 olive oil (seemed like a lot so I reduced it a tiny bit)
12 medium carrots, trimmed, peeled, and cut on the bias into 1/8 thick slices (I used about 1 1/2 lbs)
1/2 tsp kosher salt (I didn't have any so I used TJ's Himalayan Pink Salt Crystals)
1 tbsp honey
4 tsp fresh lemon juice

12 Moroccan or other black oil-cured olives, pitted and chopped (I omitted this as well but will include it next time I make it)
1 tbsp chopped cilantro
2 tsp chopped fresh mint

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350.
Place the pine nuts on a small sheet pan and toast for 9 - 10 minutes or until golden brown.
Set aside

Meanwhile, put the cumin seeds in a heavy skillet over medium heat and toast for 4 minutes, stirring a few times.
Grind in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder.
Set aside.

[Note - I skipped the 2 steps above because I had no pine nuts or cumin seeds. Plus I like taking short cuts]

Cook the carrots with the olive oil over high heat for about 3 minutes.
Lower the heat to medium and cook for 2 minutes. (I ended up doing a little longer because my carrot slices weren't as thin as 1/8")
Cook until the carrots are tender and golden brown.
Add the salt.

Put the carrots in a colander to drain (unless you want them to be really oily)
Transfer carrots to a mxing bowl.
Add the honey, lemon nuice, olives, and cumin and mix together.
Cool to room temperature and mix in the cilantro, mint, and pine nuts.
To serve, place in a large decorative bowl.

And there you have it. Some nicely seasoned carrots with a bit of sweetness. The mint and cilantro also make it look quite pretty. No photo of that though.

Upcomings posts:
The South Bay Food Crawl