Wine-Braised Rainbow Carrots with Sage

Beautiful rainbow carrots braised with sage in white wine. Earthy and warm. A vegetable side dish for this fall! 

Fall is officially here, but I can tell you that it feels NOTHING like it. The past few days have been the hottest days for Angelenos this year. 104˚F (40˚C) is definitely no joke. I literally melted. So please, bring back the fall weather! Even though it is still hot, I am already thinking ahead. Apples, pumpkins, turkey, sage, carrots… Nommm…

This vegetable side dish is what I have been waiting for. Something warm and earthy. I heard about this recipe on the radio program, The Splendid Table. If you don’t know, The Splendid Table is an amazing food program. They talk about seasonal ingredients, recipes, chef interviews, food trends and best food around the country. You may wonder how a radio food program is possible, when you can’t see or smell anything. It does work! The way they describe food will make you very very hungry. Be warned! Don’t listen to this show when you are hungry! You will regret it! The good news is you can catch up all the previous episodes on their website.

On a recent episode, the host Lynne and a guest were talking about sage. Apparently, there are many different kind of sages, like pineapple scented sage and tangerine scented sage. Super interesting, right? I wish I could taste some of those. After the show, I really wanted to make something with sage. This beautiful carrot dish couldn’t be more perfect. Sage leaves were fried in a little bit of olive oil. Then, sweet carrots were sautéed along with minced onion and more sage leaves. Poured in the white wine and braised until carrots were just tender. Reduced the liquid and coasted the carrots with a light glaze. That’s it. The dish is done.

Sage is a bit bitter, so if bitter food is not your thing, you may skip around those fried sage leaves. But keep them in the cooking process, because you want the sage flavors in the olive oil. The carrots didn’t pick up any of those bitterness. They were sweet, earthy and a little tangy. This is an easy and healthy side dish to serve along with bold flavors meats, like roasted meats. I love rainbow carrots. They are so gorgeous to look at and they bring vibrant colors to the dining table. Enjoy!

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Wine-Braised Rainbow Carrots with Sage

Course Dinner, Side Dish

Keyword carrots, wine-braised carrots

Servings 3 people

Author Lokness

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 13 large fresh sage leaves
• 1 pound small rainbow carrots (each one is about ½-inch thick) or baby carrots
• ½ medium onion (minced)
• ½ cup dry white wine
• water
• salt
• ground black pepper

Instructions

• Prepare a plate lined with a couple of layers of paper towels.
• In a large saute pan over medium-high heat, warm the oil. Add 10 sage leaves. Season with salt and pepper. Lightly fry them until crisp on both sides, about 1 minute total. Transfer the sages to the prepared plate. Set aside.
• Add the carrots and onion to the pan. Tear the remaining 3 sage leaves into small pieces and add to the carrots. Stir and cook for 3 minutes. Line the carrots in 1 layer. Stir in the wine and add enough water to just cover the carrots. Bring to a boil and cover with a lid. Cook for about 10 minutes or until almost tender. Remove the lid and boil off 95% of the liquid. Leave enough liquid for a light glaze. Season with salt and pepper to your own taste. Transfer to serving plate. Top with the fried sage leaves. Serve hot or warm.

Notes

1. Full size carrots make a great presentation, but it is much easier to serve with baby carrots.
2. For storage, these carrots can last for 4 days in the fridge.

(Adapted from The Splendid Table)