Red Carrots??

I was at a specialty food store the other day that had tons and tons of interesting vegetables. One especially intriguing section had a big pile of baby vegetables. No further descriptions were given, just "baby vegetables".

How could I resist REAL baby carrots, not just those ground down regular carrots that pass as baby carrots these days (which I also love, but it seems like a big cheat to call them baby carrots. Wouldn't whittled carrots be more accurate?)

But while I was searching through the bin, there were some baby veggies that looked like red carrots. Hmm, I've never heard of red carrots! I got a bunch even though I had no idea what they were.

I'm still not sure, but I googled around and discovered that as I suspected, red carrots do in fact exist. In fact, I guess carrots come in a far wider array of hues than the traditional orange carried in our grocery stores.

So here they are, our orange and red carrots. I washed, chopped, and steamed them briefly, then sauteed them in butter with some rosemary out of the garden. Yum, rosemary. I'm going to have to be careful or I'll eat all of the rosemary and there will be none left in the garden to grow! Anyway, they came out delightfully...a little earthier than the carrots I get at the supermarket but that gave the flavor a little more depth and character than what I normally expect from carrots. So if you happen to run across red carrots (or carrots of any unusual color), I'd highly recommend giving them a try!

Random related thought: While we're talking food, I think I've found a great answer to my "but coffee isn't local" issue. I mean, I doubt I'd ever be committed enough to go on a 100 mile diet or anything...I like chocolate too much for one thing! But here's a good compromise for me about coffee: Wicked Joe. It's made in Maine, and the company is wicked crazy about all the pro-earth stuff they do...certainly they're a lifestyle choice rather than just a drink choice. But most importantly, it's wicked good! We got Jamaican Me Crazy...a coffee flavored with Kahlua, caramel, and vanilla. Insanely delightful. Even walking past the bag of coffee is a terrific experience. We actually don't make much coffee at home, maybe two pots a week, so this is one area where I certainly don't mind paying extra. Especially for something that's super mega awesome wicked cool.

Oh, and there's the benefit of getting to say "wicked" all the time. What can I say? That's one of my all-time favorite parts of living in the Boston area!