As often is the case with these minimal ingredient dishes there is nowhere to hide with shite ingredients. Therefore, can I just say right off the bat that I really implore you to make your own mustard as outlined in the recipe below, as it will take this Honey & Roasted Carrots w Carrot Tops to a new level. It takes just five minutes to whip the mustard up and you will have it for months and months as a homemade condiment. Obviously if you’re not going to do so then the recipe will work with a store bought seeded mustard, but please ensure you still use good quality extra virgin olive oil and a really tasty raw honey. Get some really great carrots instead of those tasteless ones that often kick around sadly in the supermarket. Maybe have a little nibble before you buy and blame me if you get caught.
Honey and mustard is not a new combination by any stretch. I’m not breaking any glass ceilings here. What I am trying to do though is encourage you to think about how you can incorporate the whole vegetable instead of always discarding what can so often be used. We are quick to throw away the greens of carrots, beets and fennel tops when in fact these greens can be incorporated into our diets with wonderful nutritional benefits. This also means less wastage and therefore less strain on bins and the environment. Obviously composting is ideal if you can (from using green waste bins to small compost bins you can purchase), however being savvy and using more of what we buy means less frequency and need of purchase. Think about it as nose to tail of the plant world.
With the move towards bag free supermarkets we are very slowly transitioning in a more positive direction. It still blows my mind how much food; especially plant-based food like fruit and vegetables are wrapped up in plastics. I’d love to see more of us think about not only taking our own bags to the shops but also choosing produce that is not wrapped up in packaging. Imagine if everyone started doing this how it would affect the market demand! It’s so easy to say “why bother when there is so much packaging already out there” but every decision we make as an individual has consequences. The consumer’s choice drives the market dollar at the end of the day.
I’m even astounded by our local spray free market and the amount of produce that can still be bought wrapped. I’m at the point now where if its plastic wrapped its not going in my bags. I thought Dameon would be mortified but he has now joined in my weekly tipping of bagged rocket from a sealed plastic bag into a paper bag as a defiant gesture to not buy plastics. If the kale is all plastic wrapped then its not happening that week. It’s my decision as the consumer and every bunch of kale I don’t purchase wrapped in plastic might be a small drop in the ocean, but it’s a drop none the less.
I’m frothing at the mouth to move to our own piece of land in Victoria next year. Creating as much as a sustainable lifestyle as possible feels like a true calling. I want to eat seasonally from our own garden and make as much as we can from scratch. I’m down with the axe and chicken thing too, so no concerns about our enjoyment of free range organic meat protein. I know this type of lifestyle is not for everyone – I’m not daft. However just because we all can’t move (or want to mind you) to a farm and grow our own carrots and harvest our own honey from hives doesn’t mean we should just stick our heads in the sand when it comes to sustainability don’t you think?
Do me a favour when you make this recipe and aim to make it with the least amount of packaging as possible. Buy a bunch of carrots with their tops in tact ready to go. Don’t put them in a plastic bag before buying them. Just buy them as they are. Consider taking a detour to a bulk food shop with some of your own jars and buying some honey and extra virgin olive oil. Maybe even consider making your own mustard and purchasing some mustard seeds while you are there. Got some left overs? Instead of wrapping them in Clingfilm how about just putting them in a glass container or just putting a bowl upside down over the plate. Each choice helps. Each choice matters.
I’d love to hear from you regarding any of your savvy tips for cutting down on wastage and plastics. I know we live in a society where we cannot avoid it completely, but sharing our tips and tricks can only help expand the butterfly effect. xx
mustard & honey roasted carrots w carrot tops
- serves
- 2 people as a side dish
- preparation time
- 15 minutes
- cooking time
- 50 – 60 minutes
ingredients
- 500g baby carrots, tops included
- 2 tablespoons seeded mustard (see notes in method for homemade option)
- 1.5 tablespoons raw honey
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- generous pinch of salt
- 1 handful sage leaves, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
method
I make my own homemade mustard for this recipe. It is next level delicious and only takes 5 minutes to make. I use this recipe by Grown & Gathered, however I only use 1/2 teaspoon of salt and add in and extra teaspoon of honey. I also strongly recommend this cookbook, it’s sublime and super inspirational!
Preheat oven to 200c fan-forced.
Chop the leafy ends off the carrots leaving about 2 – 3cm’s of stem. Roughly chop half of the carrot top greens and set the other carrot top greens aside.
In a small bowl combine the mustard, honey and extra virgin olive oil and mix well.
Place the carrots and the roughly chopped carrot tops in a baking dish and spoon over the mustard mix. Season well and then use your hands to toss the carrots and the tops through the mixture to ensure that everything is coated nicely.
Place the baking dish into the oven for 30 minutes, then remove and add the roughly chopped sage and macadamia nuts and mix through. Place back in the oven and roast for another 20 minutes until the carrots are soft and golden.
Serve carrots as a side dish whilst warm.
nutritional information
- Lets get one thing straight right up. These roasted carrots are not a complex carb side dish. Carrots do not have enough starch in them to warrant them a sustaining complex carbohydrate. Not all root vegetables are created the same, so please keep this in mind when making this dish and using it as part of a macronutrient balanced meal. If you would like to know more about what constitutes a complex carb, then I’d strongly encourage you to listen to Episode 31 of the JCN Clinic Podcast Show.
Jessica Cox is a qualified practicing Nutritionist with a Bachelor Health Science (Nutrition) and over 15 years of clinical experience. She is the founder and director JCN Clinic, published author and established recipe developer. Jessica is well respected within health and wellness space for her no fad approach and use of evidence-based nutrition.
