Easy Weight Watchers Recipe: Sugar Snaps, Carrots & Peppers ♥

Love this side dish for its color and taste -- but try it for its technique, one that will work just as well for other vegetables.

It starts off with thin-sliced carrots in nothing more than water, salt and pepper beneath a cover of oil- or butter-coated parchment. Parchment! Of course -- it's the same principle as a covered skillet but really concentrates the heat and the moisture right there. I couldn't believe how quickly the carrots cooked!

Don't start cooking, however, til the vegetables are prepped. The carrots and pepper slice up in no time but the sugar snap peas take a bit. These weren't stringy so I didn't bother to remove the 'string', just trimmed the ends and cut into pieces.

NEXT TIME The inspiring recipe said to "halve the peas lengthwise diagonally". Hmm. What does this mean? I decided that it meant to just cut the peas into bite-size pieces on the diagonal. But they were pretty fat so next time I think I'd cook the carrots first (because they hold their heat) and set aside, then use the parchment to separately cook the sugar snaps by themselves, then add the carrots back in along with the peppers to finish.

---

FROM THE ARCHIVES My favorite way to cook sugar snap peas is the Sugar Snap Peas with Lemon Butter, in the Recipe Box.

A YEAR AGO Gypsy Pot from the Traveler's Lunchbox in Scotland!

FROM GREAT FOOD BLOGS
Lamb Tagine with Pearl Onions, Dates & Sugar Snap Peas ... from Habeas Brulee
Baby Turnip & Sugar Snap Peas ... from StephenCooks
Snap Pea, Radish & Asparagus Salad ... from Beyond Salmon

---

NEVER MISS A RECIPE! Just enter your e-mail address in the box in the sidebar. Once you do, new recipes will be delivered, automatically, straight to your e-mail In Box.

SUGAR SNAPS, CARROTS & PEPPERS

Hands-on time: 20 minutes plus regular attention til done
Time to table: 35 minutes
Serves 6

1/2 pound carrots, peeled if you like but I rarely bother any more, sliced thin on the diagonal
1/2 pound sugar snap peas, ends trimmed, cut into bite-size pieces on the diagonal
1 red pepper, core removed, sliced into long strips, halved lengthwise

1/4 cup water
Salt & pepper
Olive oil (or butter)
Parchment cut in a round the size of the skillet
Salt & pepper

Juice of an orange
1 tablespoon brown sugar
Salt & pepper

Prep the vegetables. Add the water, carrots and salt and pepper to a large skillet on MEDIUM HIGH. Rub olive oil onto parchment and oil-side down, press onto carrots. Let cook til crisp tender. Remove the parchment (and the carrots of you're cooking the sugar snaps separately so not to overcook the carrots) and add the sugar snap peas and peppers. (Hmm. You might also cover with the parchment again. This might help the cooking time.) When liquid is nearly gone and sugar snaps nearly cooked, add the juice, sugar and seasoning and stir to coat. Increase the temperature to create a syrupy glaze (I'm always disappointed in this, I think it might take a stove with more BTUs than most home stovetops). Season to taste.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per Serving: 64 Cal (32% from Fat, 8% from Protein, 61% from Carb); 1 g Protein; 2 g Tot Fat; 0 g Sat Fat; 11 g Carb; 3 g Fiber; NetCarb8; 31 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 30 mg Sodium; 0 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 1 point

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT'S DUE
Adapted from Gourmet, September 2003

A Veggie Venture is home of the Veggie Evangelist Alanna Kellogg and vegetable inspiration from Asparagus to Zucchini. © Copyright 2007