Here’s an easy-to-make side dish for your holiday dinner table. Our recipe for Roasted Carrots with Candied Pecans and Lifeway Farmer Cheese is pure joy. Your holiday guests will first notice the warm, inviting fragrance that floats over this dish.
Then, they’ll experience its delicious flavor. When you roast a carrot, you bring out the natural sweetness of the vegetable, and that earthy-sweet flavor, combined with the nutty and buttery taste of pecans, goes wonderfully with the tangy cool taste of Lifeway Farmer Cheese. Beyond flavor, this recipe is also packed with nutrients. Carrots are loaded with beta-carotene, soluble fiber, vitamin K1, and potassium, and Lifeway Farmer Cheese is packed with probiotics, protein, and calcium. Easy, tasty, and nutritious? Sign us up!
The Benefits of Cultured Dairy for Better Health:
Research continues to show the importance of eating healthy foods, including cultured dairy such as kefir, for better gut health, a strong immune system, and to support the microbiome. Fermented foods like kefir hold important value in this line of research due to the link between the gut-brain axis and overall health. Specifically, kefir has been shown to help diversify the microbiome, improve digestion, reduce inflammation, support healthier blood sugar levels, and improve satiety since the bioavailable protein it triggers the release of GLP-1.
Lifeway Kefir also contains a variety of nutrients that are vital for healthy bones and overall health: vitamin D3, K, calcium, and vitamin B12. Along with our kefir, we also offer our artisan-made Farmer Cheese, a creamy high-protein cheese made with live and active cultures to support a healthy microbiome that’s easy to spread and contains no added salt for optimal heart-health benefits.
Prep Time: 25 mins Servings: 6-8Ingredients
- 2lbs colorful carrots
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 4 tbsp. Lifeway Kefir Butter *
- 1 tsp. pepper
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 6oz. crumbled Farmer Cheese
- 1 tbsp. fresh thyme
- 2 tbsp. additional kefir butter
- 2 tbsp. maple syrup
- 1 tbsp. brown sugar
- 1 cup pecans, chopped
- 1/4 tsp. sea salt
Directions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and place carrots down. Sprinkle the brown sugar and evenly distribute the 4 tbsp. kefir butter. Sprinkle with salt , pepper, and cinnamon.
- Place in a preheated oven to 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes.
- To prepare the candied pecans, melt additional 2 tbsp. kefir butter in a small pan on low heat. When the kefir butter is completely melted down, add in maple syrup, brown sugar, and pecans. Stir for about 2 minutes. The mixture should thicken.
- Remove from heat and stir in sea salt and set side.
- Once the carrots are cooked, put them in a serving dish. Sprinkle with the candied pecans, farmer cheese, and fresh thyme leaves.
