Sauteed Carrots with Fried Sage

I don't usually cook carrots. In fact, most of the time I'm more of a raw, fresh vegetable kind of person--something I definitely get from my mom. I would be very satisfied with a big, colorful salad for dinner. Recently, though, I've been discovering the joys of steamed and roasted veggies. Until now, I've mostly stuck to my standbys--broccoli and eggplant. You know, I've just had more than my fair share of overcooked, mushy bland vegetables--especially carrots. Yuck.

Well, I can't tell you exactly why, but I was flipping through one of the four food magazines I'd acquired well before Thanksgiving and I decided to make this carrot side dish on Turkey Day. Carrots and sage---two ingredients with which I rarely cook. Maybe it was the simplicity of the recipe. Closer to Thanksgiving, I went back to find this recipe and for the life of me could not located it. I flipped through every magazine I had and nothing. I somehow had recycled the one magazine with my side dish recipes! (And, don't get me started on trying to find sage in the days before Thanksgiving--everybody was out!)

I was lucky enough to find the missing recipe online (though not before searching the Cooking Light website very, very diligently. What is up with their hard to navigate interface?!) and some sage after work on Thanksgiving day. Anyway, it was all smooth sailing from there. I tweaked their instructions a bit and fried the sage in the butter and oil (um, why exactly do they call it Cooking LIGHT?) first, which cooks the sage lightly and also flavors the fats with it's sage-iness. Such savory goodness! The carrots then absorb all of this wonderful flavor and develop their own satisfying sweetness. This would be an excellent side dish anytime.

Sauteed Carrots with Fried Sage

~Print Recipe~

• 1 tablespoon butter (use Earth Balance to make this vegan)
  
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
  
• 2 tablespoons (or more to taste) small fresh sage leaves (or larger leaves, torn in half or quarters)
  
• 3 heaping cups diagonally sliced carrot
• 4 tablespoons water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
  
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (or to taste)

1. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add oil to pan and stir to mix. Stir in sage leaves and fry for 1 minute, or until lightly crisp. Remove leaves, draining excess oil back into the pan, and set aside. 
2. Add carrots and water to skillet. Stir to coat with oil. Partially cover and cook 10 minutes or until carrots are almost tender.
3. Add salt and pepper to pan. Increase heat to medium-high heat. Cook 4 minutes or until carrots are tender and lightly browned, stirring frequently. Add sage back in and stir. Serve immediately.

(Serves 4 as a side dish)

Fettucine with Crispy Garlic, Sage and Sausage

Whenever I see a recipe I want, I cut it out and paste it in a notebook. I started doing this years ago and now I've nearly filled it up. It's not organized in any way, but I've memorized the order of the recipes from flipping through them so many times. When I need to make something, I scan through all of the recipes until I find a few that sound good. Usually I need someone else to help me make the final decision.

This is a recipe I clipped from Bon Appetit awhile ago that kept catching my eye. The first couple of times I saw it, I ended up making something else, but this one wouldn't let me go until I made it. It was rich and delicious--and a welcome departure from our default tomato sauce pasta.

• 3/4 pound egg fettuccine (we couldn't find egg fettucine, so we used another egg pasta)
  
• 2 tablespoons butter, divided
• 1/4 cup olive oil (less would be fine)
  
• 8 garlic cloves, peeled, thinly sliced (Definitely consider using way more if you like garlic)
  
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage
• 1 pound sweet Italian turkey sausages, casings removed (we substituted cooked spicy Italian sausage and it was delicious)
  
• 1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper (optional)
• 1 cup (approx. 3 ounces) grated Asiago cheese (maybe more)

1. Boil your pasta in a large pot of lightly salted water according to manufacturer's instructions.
2. Meanwhile, melt 1 tablespoon butter with oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Add garlic slices and saute until they've achieved desired crispy golden deliciousness (about 45 seconds to a minute). Using a slotted spoon, remove garlic and set aside.
3. Increase heat to medium high. Add the sage and stir until beginning to crisp-around 10 seconds (although a little longer/crispier would be good, too). Add sausage and saute until browned/crispy in spots.
4. Drain pasta and add to the skillet with sage and sausage. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter. Sprinkle with crushed red peppers and season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss the pasta to mix all ingredients.
5. Serve topped with crispy garlic and grated asiago cheese. (We actually mixed some of the cheese into the pasta while it was still in the skillet, so it melted in. Tasty!)