Many of our posts are inspired by dishes from favorite restaurants or recipes from our go-to food-related websites or cookbooks. On occasion, we are inspired by items from our favorite grocery stores and markets. Trader Joe’s Colorful Carrot Coins is a seasonal dish, and a dish well-loved by Kyle. The tri-colored, par-cooked carrots are seasoned with salt and thyme then sautéed for about 10 minutes. It is an easy, flavorful side dish that would complement any autumn meal.
One evening while preparing a batch, Kyle got distracted while prepping another part of dinner (which happens to us all!). The “carrot coins” were left to their own devices for a tad longer than 10 minutes. What could have been a disaster ended up being quite the discovery. The carrots had not been burned, they had actually become quite crispy. The crisp exteriors, thin slices and copious amounts of herbs and salt worked together to produce a carrot version of hash browns.
Kyle’s mind was blown! His love for the Colorful Carrot Coins grew exponentially – but – it was not to last. Trader Joe’s discontinued this seasonal product – no more yummy coins. Yet another product was dangled in front of us, dazzling us with their limited release recipe magic, and then swiftly disappeared from our lives. A sad day indeed.
The carrot coins never did make a return to Trader Joe’s. This fall, Kyle thought it was time to take matters into his own hands. The Trader Joe version of the carrots were par-cooked, which yielded bronzed and crisp exteriors and fully cooked interiors with just a few minutes in the skillet. In his first batch, he blanched the carrots in boiling water before transferring them to the skillet. However, using a pot and a skillet seemed like a whole lot of work for a side dish.
The hope was to make this recipe weeknight-accessible, so Kyle decided to roast them in the oven at a high temperature, which effectively crisped the carrots while cooking the centers through (the thin cuts of the “coin” shape also helped achieve this result). To recreate the flavors of the heavily seasoned carrots, he tossed in a generous amount of thyme, salt and pepper with a bit of sugar (for caramelization) and sage (for good measure).
For nostalgia purposes, Kyle used the tri-colored carrots to emulate the colorful coins he so enjoyed from Trader Joe’s. It is not necessary to used the tri-colored carrots; regular orange carrots will work just fine (and will taste just as delicious). An added bonus – no need to peel your carrots for your recipe – this saves considerable prep time. You can just scrub them really well and cut off the tips before cutting them into coins.
This carrot dish is so versatile and delicious it can be enjoyed as a weeknight side dish or a part of a holiday dinner. As a matter of fact, they are even a less starchy hash brown alternative for your next Sunday brunch!
- 2 pounds tri-color carrots, rinsed really well, ends trimmed and sliced into ½-inch thick slices
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon dried sage
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, toss together the carrots, oil, thyme, sagee, salt, pepper and sugar. Spread evenly on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.
- Bake until carrots are crispy and beginning to brown around the edges, 20 to 25 minutes, flipping them halfway through cooking.
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