Carrot & Pea Mélange

Carrot & Pea Mélange

This week at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), we are saying good bye to our featured chef, Chef Jacques Pépin! The past six months with Chef Pépin has been great as we learned new techniques, gained new favorites, and cooked classical French dishes.

 

To say Au Revoir to him, I cook his simple and beautiful toddler-friendly Carrot & Pea Mélange.

What's a Mélange? Here's a little excerpt from vocabulary.com: Why call it a mixture when it can be a melange? A tricolor vegetable melange makes even carrots, peas, and corn sound like gourmet cuisine. A melange is any combination of anything, but the word always heightens the glamor quotient.

The French have a way of making simple words sound like romantic entreaties of love. Call any random assortment of things a melange, or as it's sometimes spelled, mélange, and voila, you've given it a sparkle that plain old words like combination, mixture, and blend just cannot convey.

Recipe from Jacques Pépin's Carrot and Pea Mélange.

Ingredients: 

(Serves 2) 

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium red onion, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup water
1 cup carrot, 1/2-inch cubes
Pinch of dried mixed spices
Pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups frozen baby peas, thawed
1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter

How to:

1. Heat up oil in a deep saucepan. Add onions and cook until they are lightly browned for about 2 minutes.

2. Add water, carrots, and mixed spices. Cover and simmer gently for about 10 minutes. Then, add salt, pepper, and peas. Bring the mixture to a boil for 2 minutes.

3. Stir in the butter just before serving. Best eaten with steamed rice or boiled pasta tossed in extra virgin olive oil.

I'm linking this post with I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC) for this week's theme, Au Revoir Chef Pepin! (Until We Meet Again!).