Kosher Vegan Pan Fried Basil and Herb Carrots

These were a happy accident. I wanted to make some lightly pan fried fingerling potatoes as part of a Hanukkah dinner. Oh, yes. While the rest of the country is dressing their dogs up to have photos taken with Santa, I'm indulging in the sinful delights of fried foods. The festival of lights is my excuse to enjoy donuts for breakfast, latkes and applesauce for dinner, and delicious experiments with oil.

On a whim, I decided to peel some carrots and throw them in alongside some herbed heirloom potatoes. At the end of the meal, the incidental carrots had been eagerly consumed while the allegedly main course potatoes sat lonely and accusing on the plate, wondering why they weren't loved.

• 1 pound carrots
• 3 - 4 tbsp basil oil
• 1 tbsp Herbs de Provence
• 1 tsp salt

Peel the carrots and cut them into 1.5 - 2 inch chunks. If you cut them on a diagonal, you'll have more surface area. This means more of the carrots natural sugars will be caramelized by the heat. Caramelization means tasty goodness.

Bring 3 tbsp basil oil to a medium heat in a large, sturdy skillet. Add the salt and mix well. Now add the carrots and stir until they're well coated in oil. If they look a little dry, add another tbsp.

Now comes the easy yet boring part. Stir fry the carrots until they're cooked through. This should take about 15 minutes. You don't need to hover over them nonstop. Go ahead and give them a good stir 3 - 4 times while cooking, just enough to make sure none of the chunks end up with one side burned and the other side raw.

After fifteen minutes, you should start to see some browning, maybe even a couple of crispy edges. I've tried this recipe twice this week and found that letting them darken until they flirt with that line between highly caramalized and lightly burned, they come out downright cracktastic. Take a risk. Worst case scenario, you've wasted 20 minutes of your life and $1 in carrots. So, once your carrots are well cooked, add the Herbs de Provence. You can get this French spice mix in an adorable overpriced rustic pot at Williams Sonoma, or for less than $4 in an ordinary plastic jar from Amazon.com.

Sprinkle the spices over the carrots and mix thoroughly. Cook the carrots for another minute or so, then serve. In case you're wondering, adding herbs at the beginning of a high heat or frying process will result in burned herbs. If you think about it, herbs are just little leaves, and a tiny piece of leaf cooks pretty quickly. Don't burn your leaves. Adding them near the end lets you bring out the flavor via cooking before they end up unpleasantly charred.

If you don't happen to have any Herbs de Provence around, you can make a little homebrew using the following ingredients. If you like the mix, scale it up, put it in an old spice jar, and use it to season fish, chicken, or potatoes.

• 1/2 tsp rosemary
• 1/2 tsp marjoram
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp basil
• 1/2 tsp bay leaf
• 1/4 tsp sage
• 1/4 tsp lavender (optional)