Local Carrots Make Me Happy

But back to the lunch tray: Thursday night, I attended the first Burlington “Lunch for Dinner” at Champlain Elementary School in the South End, sponsored by the Burlington School Food Project. There, Doug Davis, School Food Service Director extraordinaire, served up a hearty local dinner on compostable lunch trays to showcase the many local options now on the lunch menu and encourage community support and participation. Granted, all the delicious local ingredients don’t always appear on the menu at one time, but the crowd that filled the cafeteria to capacity happily chowed down on local beef and potatoes in shepherd’s pie, local string beans gleaned by Healthy City last summer and blanched and frozen for school lunches (with the help of City Market Member-Workers!), Arethusa farm carrots, Champlain Orchard apples in apple crisp, and oh yes, Red Hen bread.

But it’s not just the local foods that make these changes special, it’s the education around the foods; the fact that Shelburne Farms educators go into the classrooms and lead local food activities with kids; and these same kids go on field trips to City Market and sample local foods and perhaps even meet the farmer or producer. (In another proud parental moment this week, Nikolas got to meet Doug Flack at City Market as he demoed his sauerkraut and tell him how much he likes eating sauerkraut and kimchi. This from the kid who only recently had more vegetables that he DIDN’T eat than that he DID.)

Anyway, I’m happy to be able to buy local carrots from City Market this time of year, as well to have the global trade that allows me to buy juicy, organic oranges while citrus season lasts. Now it’s off to the NOFA winter conference, to hear more about extending the growing season and making more things like local carrots available to more people. Should be a great conference. There might even be some local carrots.

1 1/2 pounds local carrots (about 5 large carrots)

3 Tbs. olive oil

½ tsp. ground cumin

1/4 cup pine nuts

salt and pepper to taste

1 navel orange

2 scallions (white and light green parts), chopped

Heat oven to 400. Peel carrots. Cut into matchsticks by cutting the carrot in half horizontally, then cutting each half in half vertically. Cut into 4 matchsticks. Combine the carrots, 2 Tbs. of the olive oil, the cumin, the pine nuts, and salt and pepper to taste and spread in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Roast until the carrots are tender, about 30-40 minutes, or until slightly caramelized.

Meanwhile, slice an orange in half horizontally and cut around it the way you would a grapefruit to free the orange segments. Place the segments in a bowl, and then squeeze the orange halves over them to extract any remaining juice. Stir in the scallions and the remaining oil.

Arrange the carrots on a platter and spoon the orange mixture over the top. Serve hot or at room temperature. Serves 4.

(This recipe is adapted from realsimple.com)