Rainbow Carrots, Haricot Verts & Caramelized Shallots
Rainbow carrots bring a marvelous splash of deep, bright color to any meal. The hues of purple, red, deep orange and yellow are complimented perfectly with the bright green verts (French green beans). This colorful, crunchy medley paired with the deep tones of the caramelized shallots and browned butter make for a lovely sidecar to any meal!
Serves 8
Ingredients
- 7 – 8 Rainbow carrots in various colors, peeled and cut into 1 ½ inch pieces
- 1 lbs. Haricot verts (French ‘thin’ green beans)
- 2 tablespoon of olive oil or unsalted butter, divided
- 2 fresh shallots, coarsely chopped
- ½ teaspoon of ground nutmeg
- 1 – 2 teaspoons of medium-dry cooking sherry
- Salt & pepper to taste
Preparations
Peel and slice the carrots. (If carrots are organic you may wish to skip peeling them!) Coarsely chop the shallots, and place them into a heavy skillet with 1 tablespoon of oil/butter on medium-high heat. As shallots begin to brown, reduce heat, add sugar to finalize browning and stir to keep from ‘over-browning’ (better known as burning!).
While shallots caramelize, heat water in pot with steamer to a rolling boil. Add carrots to steamer and cook 7 – 9 minutes until just tender. (Do not over cook!) Remove from heat and plunge into ice bath (bowl of ice water) to stop cooking process. Using the same steamer, add verts and cook until just tender (5 – 7 minutes) and add to ice bath with carrots.
As shallots finalize the caramelization process, add sherry to pan and reduce for 3 minutes.
Place remaining 1 tablespoon of oil/butter to large, heavy skillet on medium-high heat. Add carrots, verts, ground nutmeg and caramelized shallots to pan, stir to coat with oil, cover and let mingle for 3 – 5 minutes. Plate and serve immediately.
Le Voov! Side Note: If you are serving this dish at a dinner party, create your floral centerpiece to match the various colors of the carrots. It may be fun to mix up the colors of your cloth napkins and other linens as well!
