Sweeten Your Potato: Red Wine and Maple Glazed Carrots over Mashed Potatoes

Few dieticians would recommend it, but I commend eating a side dish as a main dish; especially if it’s comfort food. After a long week, smashing potatoes to a creamy pulp was therapeutic as well as delicious. The kitchen air was sweetened by carrots, maple syrup, and red wine. The recipe I used called for chili powder and dill. Admittedly, I was timid about trying these, but they added aromatic explosions. What I ended up with was a delectably sweet and fluffy combination. The buttery mashed potatoes melted and slowly made way for the glazed carrots and delicate onions. Strangely enough, it reminded me of French toast – but it was…carrots and mashed potatoes? The obvious culprit was maple syrup, but who cares! This could be an innovative trick to getting kids to eat their veggies. If brussel sprouts tastes like chocolate I would definitely change my tone about them. Or maybe this might be a new featured side dish at Thanksgiving dinner – watch out Sweet Potato Pie!

Red Wine and Maple Glazed Carrots

Ingredients:

2 T butter

¼ cup thinly sliced onions

1 tsp chili powder

Salt and Pepper

4 large carrots, diagonally sliced

1/3 cup pure maple syrup [I mixed syrup with honey, ½ and ½]

1 cup dry red wine

2-3 tsp dried dill

Instructions:

1. Heat butter in skillet until bubbling, add onions. Cook until translucent and caramelized.

2. Add salt, pepper, and chili powder. Stir until you smell it.

3. Add carrots, maple syrup mix, and wine. Cover and simmer for about 20 min, or until carrots are tender and sauce has reduced to a glaze. Stir occasionally.

4. Remove from heat. Add dill. Serve by itself, or over some mashed potatoes!