Sun-drenched Carrots

by Christa Upton
(South Dakota)

Hot Pots with Carrots and Flat Bread

Recipe 20 in the Solar Hot Pot



Sun-drenched Carrots



10:15 am—2 T. olive oil or butter: cut in pieces and put in Solar Hot Pot, cover, set up facing the sun, set timer for 15 minutes.



Then prep:

5 medium carrots (slice very thinly) (or more carrots if desired)
honey (drizzle over)
salt (sprinkle lightly over, not too much)
cinnamon or cloves (optional) (sprinkle VERY lightly over, not too much)

10:30 am—carrots, etc: add, stir into oil, cover, set timer for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes, check every 15 minutes or so until carrots look like they are the amount of softness that you like them. Stir if needed. Adjust to sun if it goes longer than an hour. Be aware of food safety if it goes longer than 2 hours (especially if you have had clouds and your Hot Pot cooled down).



WOW—after 45 minutes, I stirred, and the carrots sizzled like crazy—like stirring carrots in a stir fry! YUM. The kids loved this and want me to make more sometime.



Today, along with the carrots, we did flat bread in our other Hot Pot. And, I thought of the perfect thing to do in the center of the Pot on the bottom (where my flat bread got soggy last time)—“roasted” garlic! (A clove or cloves of garlic covered with olive oil. It’s hard to see in the picture, but it’s in the foil ring.) Definitely an easy way to cook garlic, and for that matter—the flat bread needs less attention than cooking it on the stove as well!! So cool how it worked perfectly to do bread and garlic together.

Yesterday we made more Sun-candied Cereal. The kids finished a batch a few nights ago, and hubby wanted more. (smile) Especially after getting the “hang” of the Hot Pot, cooking that recipe is so much easier in the Hot Pot than it is on the stove!! (One stir instead of 10 minutes of stirring!!) And another thing—if you start it and clouds come, just bring the Pot indoors and set it somewhere until the next day. No need to take the sugar and butter out or do anything with it; it will sit until the sun comes back.

Then we took the Hot Pot to the spring, swam, and then heated up a hot dog snack. (Less than 1 hour got 3 hot dogs pleasantly warm, even with some clouds!)

I’ll probably use a Hot Pot to heat up leftovers for supper tonight as well. I will be out again and not near a microwave, (and I have trouble packing a cold supper for myself, because I can’t do most store-bought bread, etc. because of chemicals.) Have I said recently—I love solar cooking!!!