Orange Spice Carrots

Claire Whelan stayed three weeks — longer than planned, which Tom didn't resist. She got the house properly rearranged and spent time every morning on a video call with her own work and every afternoon doing things around Tom's property that had been accumulating. Gutters, a fence section, the shop heater that had been running at sixty percent. She did it the way good children do these things when they visit: efficiently and without making it feel like a gift, just the ordinary mechanics of two people living in a place together for a period.

She left Saturday and I was at Tom's on Sunday. He didn't say he missed her. He asked what I was making for dinner and then accepted the invitation to come over without the usual deliberation. He's been coming over more often, which I don't remark on. The visits are their own justification and he knows I know that.

The third magazine column is out in the spring issue — a piece about calving season, about the two-in-the-morning experience of arriving at an animal in trouble and having to make decisions without time to be uncertain. The editor said it generated more reader response than anything since the elk liver column. Montana readers, horse people, nurses and emergency workers who recognized the pattern of high-stakes work in an imperfect situation. The piece landed where I hoped it would.

Made a lemon pasta with capers and olive oil for the Sunday dinner — quick, bright, February-defying. Sometimes the right answer in the heaviest part of winter is to cook something that reminds you what lightness tastes like. The lemon zest in the hot pasta releases something sharp and alive. We ate it and felt better. Good enough reason to make it.

The pasta was the main event that Sunday, but I’ve made these Orange Spice Carrots on the same kind of evenings — the ones where someone shows up without needing to explain why, and you want the table to feel like it’s doing some work against the season. The orange and warm spice do what lemon zest does: they remind you that brightness is possible, even in the part of winter that has started to feel permanent. Tom ate without deliberating, which is its own kind of good sign.

Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 20 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 lb carrots, peeled and sliced on the diagonal into 1/4-inch coins
1/2 cup fresh orange juice (from about 1 large orange)
1 teaspoon orange zest
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

Simmer the carrots. Place sliced carrots in a medium skillet or saucepan. Add the orange juice and enough water to just cover the carrots. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat and simmer for 8–10 minutes, until carrots are just tender when pierced with a fork.
Drain and glaze. Drain off most of the liquid, leaving about 2 tablespoons in the pan. Add the butter, honey, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt. Stir to combine.
Reduce the glaze. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 3–4 minutes until the glaze thickens and coats the carrots evenly.
Finish and serve. Remove from heat. Stir in the orange zest. Taste and adjust salt if needed. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with fresh parsley if using. Serve warm.

Nutrition (per serving)

Orange Spice Carrots — Something Bright When February Has Gone On Long Enough