Sautéed Buttered Carrots & Leeks

An easy and flavorful side dish that can be made any time of year, but especially makes for a good quick option for Easter brunch or dinner.

Early Season Produce

Timing is everything when it comes to fresh produce. Leeks are available year-round, but in the spring, you can often find them at local farmer's markets. Early in the season, the leeks tend to be smaller in size, and I absolutely love that. I recently picked up some small leeks at a farmer's market in Oregon City, Oregon.

Small leeks are tender and cook quickly, making them perfect for a fast, flavorful dish. I had never paired them with carrots before, but decided to give it a try—and the result was delicious! The dish was sweet, with the fresh, mild onion flavor of the leek adding a perfect touch.

Here are some tips for preparing the vegetables:

• You don't need to peel the carrots, especially if you have small, thin carrots as this recipe calls for.
• Slice the carrots and leeks to be the same size.
• A crinkle cutter is a cut and easy way to cut carrots that also makes the carrots look really cool as well.
• You can cook these vegetables in any kind of pan or pot, but I actually liked doing it in a wok where I could easily move around the vegetables.
• If you are serving this to a large crowd, like as part of an Easter meal, I would 3x or 4x the recipe below.
• I only use the light green or white part of the leeks for this recipe. The green part is too tough.
• You don't want your pan to go over medium heat as you don't want the butter to start smoking.

Don't just toss out the tough green parts of the leeks. I have a list of several different ways to use the green parts of the leeks.

Sautéed Buttered Carrots & Leeks

Simple to make side dish of carrots with young leeks cooked in butter.

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Course: Side Dish

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes minutes

Servings: 3 servings

Author: Eric Samuelson

Ingredients

• 4-5 small leeks about 1 lb
• 5-6 small carrots sliced
• 6 tbsp butter
• salt to taste

Instructions

• Cut the carrots into bite sized pieces.
• Examine the leeks. If you see some dirt, run the leeks run some water. If it's a lot of dirt, it's easier to clean them out once you cut them.
• Remove the green part of the leeks. Don't throw them out. See link in above the recipe card for ways to use the green parts.
• Cut the leeks the same size as the carrots.
• Add butter to a pan, pot, or wok over medium heat.
• Once the butter has melted, add in both the carrots and leeks. Salt to taste.
• Cook until the carrots have softened, stirring often so they cook evenly and develop some brown color on the carrots or leeks.
• It should take around 10 minutes or so to cook them. Serve warm.

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