Roasted Carrot Salad and Things I Learned: 3/3/11

The original recipe for this awesome salad came from the New York Times. It called for black olives. We do not like black olives so I left them out—and made a whole bunch of other changes.

1 lb. carrots, washed (don’t bother peeling)

½ cup EVOO

½ - 1 tsp. dried thyme

1 ½ tbsp. red wine vinegar

2 shallots, minced and lightly sautéed (for about 3 minutes)

1 package (about 4 cups) arugula

1 tbsp. lemon juice

½ cup crumbled feta cheese

½ cup walnut halves

2 tbsp. sugar

1. Preheat oven to 450°.

2. Cut carrots into carrot stick size and toss in a bowl with 4 tbsp. EVOO and the thyme.

3. Warm a rimmed baking sheet in the oven for 3-4 minutes, take it out, spread the carrots onto the baking sheet and roast the carrots for about 15 minutes (until they’re crisp-tender and slightly caramelized).

4. While the carrots roast, combine the walnuts and sugar in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Toast, stirring, until the sugar becomes gooey. Continue stirring to completely coat the walnuts in the gooey sugar. Remove from heat.

5. In a small bowl, combine the red wine vinegar and ¼ cup of EVOO.

6. Transfer 3 tbsp. of the red wine vinegar-EVOO mixture to a large bowl and add the roasted carrots. Marinate for 5 minutes or so.

7. Add the shallots to the bowl with the carrots.

8. Add the arugula and the lemon juice. Toss.

9. Add the walnuts and the feta and toss again.

10. Serve. Top with some of the reserved dressing if you want. (Pete likes it with extra dressing. I don’t.)

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And now for the things I learned:

-In Nova Scotia, capelin breed on land. (Capelin are fish. The Nova Scotia population is the only one that breeds on land. The rest breed in the ocean.)

-Marine iguanas exist. They live in the Galapagos and eat algae—females eat algae off the rocks and males go for the fresh stuff on the ocean floor.

-Infants can’t hear very well because their auditory systems aren’t fully developed. And that’s why they scream/cry/wail so loudly.

-Bears are groggy (and their metabolism is at about half of its non-hibernation level) for two to three weeks after hibernation.

-My spin class does not like Guns N Roses.

-Wild bananas have seeds the size of peppercorns.

-There’s a cricket team in Portland.

-Bowdoin has a curling team and there are enough curling teams in Maine for the Bowdoin team to win the state championship.

-Gulper eels can’t really swim, but they can eat prey bigger than themselves.

-The fangtooth (a deep sea fish) has the largest teeth in relation to body size. And, because of its disproportionately large teeth, it can’t close its mouth.

-Female lions are better hunters than male lions partly because of the male’s mane. The mane makes the male more conspicuous (not good for stalking prey) and makes him hot, making him an inefficient hunter.

-Hagfish are the only (or at least the first known) vertebrate that absorbs food through its skin and gills—and its mouth.

-Someone who studies moths and butterflies is called a lepidopterist.