Roasted Carrots with Orange, Garlic, and Herbs

This is our first week with Jamie Oliver at I Heart Cooking Clubs and the theme this week is Let's Get Naked!  Yep, you heard that right.  We couldn't resist having fun with Jamie's title, The Naked Chef.  I've been a huge fan of Jamie's unbridled personality for years and enjoy watching him in everything that he does.  You can always count on a few good laughs if you're watching one of his shows.  It's going to be an amazing six months cooking up Jamie's recipes.

Jamie has around 10 cookbooks, a magazine, a terrific website brimming with recipes, and countless shows on both the Food Network and the Cooking Channel.  In fact, it's a little overwhelming to choose a recipe because there are SO VERY MANY to choose from.  As I paged through book after book of Jamie's recipes it was this recipe for Roasted Carrots with Orange, Garlic, and Herbs that stood out the most to me.  Maybe it was the fact that I love carrots.  Maybe it was because the roasted carrots and oranges looked so sunny and bright.  Either way I couldn't get this recipe out of my head. I had to try it!

Roasted Carrots with Orange, Garlic and Thyme

Adapted from Jamie's Dinners

Serves 4

Boil the carrots in salted boiling water with a tablespoon of sugar, a knob of butter and a little handful of fragrant fresh herbs, tied up.  Parsley, rosemary, thyme, bay-use just one or a mixture.  Cut an orange into eights and add them to the water, along with a few whole garlic cloves in their skins.  If you really want to be a tiger, add a pinch fo cumin as well (seeds or ground) - it subtly cuts through with the most wonderful of flavor.  As soon as the carrots are cooked, drain them and throw everything onto a lightly greased baking pan and roast at 400F for 10-15 minutes. 

More options:   You can elect to serve the carrots boiled OR you can mash the carrots with the garlic. If you choose to mash the carrots go ahead and fry up the chopped orange in a good tablespoon of sugar, so it almost jammifies and serve it on top of the carrots.

Notes/Results: I thought this recipe was beautiful, fresh, bright and vibrant!  I loved it.  I also love that Jamie gives you three different ways to serve this recipe: boiled, roasted, and mashed.  The entire family loved this dish, even the ones that don't usually care for carrots.  I would definitely make this one again!

Are you ready to get naked?