Amy Poehler Uses 2 Bold Ingredients To Give Roasted Carrots Big Flavor (And Ina Garten Approves)

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As far as side dishes go, roasted carrots are always a crowd-pleaser. They're easy to toss together, and as a bonus, can be customized with extra seasonings or toppings, as Amy Poehler highlighted in a recent episode of her podcast "Good Hang." Poehler was talking all things food with her guest, cookbook author and TV culinary personality Ina Garten, and revealed that she uses two bold ingredients to give roasted carrots serious flavor: feta and honey. It sounded good to Garten.

Poehler's favored combination works so well with roasted carrots because of the variety of flavors and textures it introduces into the dish. First of all, roasted carrots already have some inherent sweetness, which the honey amplifies. Then, the feta adds depth through its salty, tangy, briny flavor notes. Poehler's add-ins also bring in an element of textural contrast, with the feta weaving creamy bursts of soft cheese amongst the otherwise uniform texture of roasted carrots.

We've got a roasted carrot recipe to get you started, but you could certainly get creative, opting for rainbow carrots or slicing them in different ways. Just remember, one of the biggest mistakes everyone makes when cooking carrots is either cooking them until they're mush or pulling them from the oven too early, resulting in unappealingly hard carrots. Keep an eye on them throughout the cooking process for an optimal foundation that your add-ins will elevate even further.

There are a few things to consider when putting together the simple side dish, the most important being when to add the feta and honey. Start by tossing the carrots in olive oil and seasoning them the way you normally would, perhaps with a bit of salt, pepper, and your other dried seasonings of choice. Then drizzle them with honey to get the caramelization started. However, to truly let that honey flavor come through, we also recommend drizzling on a bit more after roasting — it's the technique used in our honey-glazed carrots recipe. The feta should ideally be added just before serving, or within the final few minutes of cooking, which is enough time for it to soften, but not so much time that it'll become a mushy, visually unappealing mess.

Poehler didn't specify anything beyond the basic idea of adding honey and feta to roasted carrots, but you can certainly amp up the flavor even further. For another dimension of flavor, consider using hot honey, which will bring in some heat to balance out the sweetness of the dish. Or, if you have a particular type of pre-seasoned feta you love the taste of (there are flavored feta cheeses or varieties packed in herb-filled oils, for example), use that instead of plain feta. And, while pre-crumbled feta is the most convenient option, choosing feta in a block allows you to cut the pieces to the exact size you want, so you can customize whether you get tiny bursts of feta throughout your dish or larger pieces that deliver a serious punch.