Sweet and Spicy Mashed Carrots

Last weekend, it seemed like after all the rain, summer finally arrived!  I enjoyed all of the sunshine last weekend, especially making a point to get in some runs along the Charles.  Between the warm weather and the exercise, I started craving a lot of veggies.  Awhile back, I flagged Everyday Food's recipe for Mashed Carrots with Honey and Chili Powder for a warm winter side dish.  I ended up making the steamed carrots last weekend and found that this actually makes a really perfect dish for summer!

I started out by gathering my ingredients.  I used two pounds of carrots instead of the suggested one and a half pounds so I increased the measurements on some of the other ingredients:

 

• 2 pounds carrots
• 2 tablespoons salted butter, room temperature
• 3 teaspoons honey
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• Salt and pepper, to taste

I put a pot of water to boil with my steamer basket on top.  While the water started to warm up, I washed, peeled and roughly chopped the carrots.  I added the carrots to the steamer and let them cook for about forty minutes.

When the forty minutes were done, I mashed the carrots using a hand potato masher.

I then added the butter, honey, chili powder, salt and pepper to the bowl and gave everything a good mix.

I had a strange dinner that night consisting of a frozen burrito, a side salad and mashed carrots. 

The carrots were definitely my favorite part of the meal because they had lovely sweet and spicy notes.

We had a lot of carrots leftover and they were even better re-heated the next day as leftovers!

What types of food do you crave in warmer weather?