Dinner: Oven Roasted Tricolor Carrots

I have a confession to make. Lately, I’ve been obsessed with Tricolor Carrots, Brussel Sprouts and Portobello Mushrooms. I see this obsession particularly with the Tricolor/Nantes Carrots to last a while. So far, I’ve found the best way to do them is oven-roasted. I actually would like to replicate what I tried in Kelowna at Basil & Mint Restaurant. Those carrots were absolutely delish. Its because of that that when I went to Atwater Market a few weeks ago, I got a bag of these carrots and amazingly, also the second reason why I love buying carrots is that they can be preserved for a good while.

This is a simple recipe and I’m sure someone else has probably done it but I did put this together on my own.

Oven-Roasted Tricolor Carrots

Ingredients

10 Tricolor Carrots (or Nantes carrots), scrubbed and cleaned
2 tbsp Avocado Oil (or extra virgin olive oil)
1 tsp Herbes de Provence (or as you see fit)

How to make it

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Line baking tray with parchment paper.
2. Lay carrots in a single layer on top of the parchment paper.
3. Drizzle oil over the carrots.
4. Sprinkle on the Herbes de Provence.
5. Put in oven for 20-25 minutes or when carrots are tender enough for your taste.

Simple and easy is what I usually aim for. We paired this up with Tourtiere which is a meat pie. Plus, Tricolor carrots have a sweeter taste, especially my favorites are the purple ones with the orange center that taste a little like sweet potatoes. Plus, Herbes de Provence is one of the best herb blends for making a lot of different varieties of food from pork chops, chicken, turkey and even vegetables. It is our go-to spice for a quick solution that packs a little extra taste.

How do you like to cook carrots?

Dinner: Pork Chops & Potatoes in Tomato-Basil Sauce

We’re back again with another recipe.  I don’t do a whole lot of improvisation but you know, buying groceries are expensive and I’m trying to use what I have at home to work something out.  One thing my house has a lot of is potatoes.  My friend gave me a ton so now we’re working hard on finishing it all up.  We tried to mix things up a little last weekend and ended up with this little pork chops and potatoes dish.

Super uncreative name but here we go…

Pork Chops and Potatoes in Tomato-Basil Sauce

Ingredients

6-8 pork chops
(you  might want to use a bigger oven dish than this one)

5-6 medium potatoes

1-1/5 cups tomato sauce
(we used Classico Tomato-Basil and Sundried Tomato mix)

minced garlic
Italian seasoning

bay leaves, to garnish

How to make it:

1. Preheat oven at 400F.
2. Layer pork chops at the bottom.
3. Pour the sauce over the pork chops.
4. Layer sliced potatoes on the top.  Try to keep it basted in the tomato sauce.
5. Season on top with minced garlic and Italian seasoning. Put the bay leaves on top, if you choose to.
6. Place it in the oven to bake for about 45 minutes. Be sure to check whether the pork chops and potatoes are cooked through if you need to add a little more time.

I like quick dinner solutions.  Usually anything with baking is quick because preparation is about 15 minutes or something. Cutting the potatoes take the longest.  Unless you want to peel it, then it’ll take even more time.  Mine was in there for a little extra time so it ended adding a little bit of crispiness to the top of the potatoes.  It worked out pretty well. Honestly, I had my doubts especially because it didn’t look that appealing but the results worked good.  The pork chops flavored well with the tomato sauce.

For something thrown together with leftover sauces in the fridge and adding some meat and veggies, it was a really good mix. I was pleased with the results.

If I were to change it up, I suggest to use less pork chops and layer with more thinly sliced potatoes and only one single layer. Just little tips to think about when putting this together if you give it a go. Any sauce works as long as you like it.  If you change the sauce, you should go with some matching seasoning.

How do you like to make pork chops? What do you suggest to use up those potatoes?

Dinner: Oven-Roasted Potatoes

We’re back!!! Let’s hope cooking and baking segment stays alive! I do have another recipe coming up really soon.  I did both this one and the next one for one meal.

We’re getting back into gear with something easy.

I always find anything you can pop into the oven, set the timer and walk away and do other stuff is the easiest sort of meal. Prep time for this one isn’t long either and honestly, you can remove or add other ingredients as you see fit. That is the best part about it.

Ready? Let’s go!

Oven-Roasted Potatoes

Recipe from Spend With Pennies (via Pinterest)

Ingredients and instructions are on the link above! Just press on “Spend With Pennies”.

This one is all about herbs.  The husband loves herbs and I’m becoming a fan.  But I’m a boring one and when in doubt, I always use Herbes de Provence. So I decided to try out a recipe that mixes you know, individual types of herbs together and see the result.  I mean, we did buy a spice rack….would be nice to put it to some use, right?

Oven-Roasted Potatoes are really good.  It might have benefited from having some time to sit in the fridge and soak in the flavor a little.  Let it marinate through.  Unfortunately, I’m a spontaneous cook so here we are. Still, I thought it wasn’t bad.  The texture was decent and the herbs do stand out and are a lovely mix.

However, for a side dish, this is a lovely choice.  Its delicious, packs in some carbs, and adds a little flavor.  A good substitute for french fries so I’m guessing its a relatively healthier choice 🙂

Are you a fan of potatoes? How do you like to make them? What do you like to make in the oven for dinner?