Unless … you’ve been to Sage’s Cafe in downtown SLC.
The first time we went to Sage’s we had no idea it was a vegan restaurant and we were, quite honestly, relatively unimpressed with one exception. This was many years ago. We have been back many times now, and while the food is always tasty and we try something different every time (or the same thing we had before but forgot how we liked it), we always go back for the same thing. And every time I recommend Sage’s or someone asks what is good, I always say they must, MUST, get the Carrot Butter.
And what’s the deal? Apparently, it’s pick your favorite animal week here at GCF. We have two rat-bags and a “green” frog. This totally works though, because in my house, my five year old insists that we always choose an animal to be for the daywhen we wake up in the morning. So, today I pick a copy-cat (love your creations Chef Ian – I just need them family-sized!). So, with a bit of internet searching and a little tweaking, I’ve mastered this beautiful, NEON ORANGE creation. I sent my husband a picture of the Vitamix full of orange stuff, and he told me it might freak people out to know this was food. When he got home and saw the Vosen’s seeded baguette, he knew dinner would be amazing. At least for the grown-ups. (This is not a kid-approved recipe, which I totally don’t get because it’s sweet. And neon orange. What’s not to like?)
Then I brought some down to Somer’s for her post-birthday bash. It seemed to go over pretty well. (Her text tonight said this: Can’t. Stop. Eating. Carrot. Butter.) Erika was a bit thrilled with it as well, and told me I HAD to post it soon. I sorta wish I’d taken pictures today since we made lovely open-faced sandwiches with fresh garden vegetables on crusty bread. So, so good.
So, here is the scoop:
Sage’s Carrot Butter
1 ¼ lb. (about 6-7 medium) carrots, peeled, small dice
¾ c. macadamia nuts
¼ c. safflower or canola oil
2 T. maple syrup
½ T. salt
½ – 1 t. vanilla, to taste
Directions:
- Steam carrots until very tender, 20-30 minutes depending on how small you dice them. Reserve about ½ c. of your steaming water
- Place carrots, nuts, oil, maple syrup, salt, vanilla, and ¼ c. reserved water in blender or food processor. Let it rip until the texture is very smooth, almost the consistency of fluffy frosting. A Vitamix or Blendtec will do the job handily, but I make no claims to the performance of other apparatuses – consider soaking your macadamias if you’re ripping without super-blender.
- Serve on crusty seeded baguette with cucumbers, or on a spoon. It also makes a delicious sandwich spread or cucumber spread (that’s how Erika ate hers since she’s giving wheat the crusty eye these days).