Peas and carrots is one of the Greek staple foods I love very much and each time I find myself making it, sometimes adding more ingredients and sometimes just making it simple, with just a few ingredients.
One of the Greek ladera I love very much is arakas or mpizelia (peas). Although during the summer I use fresh peas, using frozen peas is equally good and nutritious (and much more easier 
).
Ladera, are our Greek vegeterian dishes and can be anything with seasonal vegetables, cooked with olive oil, because olive oil is their main condiment. However, I have learned to reduce the amount of olive oil considerably, making the dish lighter and healthier. I’ve seen many recipes using sugar in these recipes. Although at the early stages of cooking I did use a pinch of sugar in sauces, now I have completely stopped using it and believe me the dish will be so sweet from the carrot that people eating it may think that you did add sugar in it.
Peas with Carrots
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Serves: 4 - 5
INGREDIENTS
- 1/4 cup of olive oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 500 grams of frozen peas,
- 8 medium carrots, peeled and shredded
- 1 can (500 grams) whole tomatoes, pureed
- 400 ml water
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 cup of parsley, finely chopped
INSTRUCTIONS
- Heat olive oil in a saucepan and sauté onion until translucent and soft. Add fresh or frozen peas (no need to thaw) and mix for 2 minutes.
- Add carrots and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add tomato and water, reduce heat and simmer until cooked, for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add parsley and mix and simmer for five more minutes. You can add parsley earlier, but it is not cooked it retains its aroma.
Serve with Greek feta.
I am submitting this recipe to Michelle, of What’s Cooking Blog, who is hosting this month’s Monthly Mingles, Healthy Family Dinners, originally created by Meeta, of What’s for Lunch Honey?
Herbed Peas with Carrots
This dish is so versatile that a lot of other ingredients may be added to it.
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Serves: 4 - 5
INGREDIENTS:
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 - 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 4 shallots, finely chopped
- 1 leek, finely chopped, only white part
- 500 grams of frozen peas, or 1 kilo fresh peas during summer
- 6 carrots, sliced or shredded
- 2 medium potatoes, cut into large pieces
- ½ cup of parsley, finely chopped
- ½ cup of dill, finely chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 4 ripe tomatoes or 1 can (500 grams) whole tomatoes with juice, chopped or pureed
- 2 cups water
DIRECTIONS:
- Wash all vegetables and herbs and place in a colander to drain.
- Heat olive oil in a saucepan and sauté garlic, shallots and leek until they are translucent and soft.
- Add frozen peas (no need to thaw) and mix for 2 minutes.
- Add carrots, potatoes and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Add tomato and water, reduce heat and simmer until cooked, about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. If needed add more water until the carrots, which take most of the time to cook, are soft.
- Ten minutes before the end, mix in the parsley and dill.
Serve with Greek feta.
Tags: Arakas, Food events, Ladera, Nistisimo, Peas, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian
January 25th, 2009 at 12:41 am
A healthy and versatile dish which looks really delicious!
By the way, yesterday, we ate your Spartan sausages and they tasted fantastic! We loved them very much!!! Thanks…
Cheers,
Rosa xoxo
January 25th, 2009 at 2:05 am
My Mom loves peas and carrots. She is always looking for new ways to prepare them. This looks like it would be right up her alley! Delicious!
January 25th, 2009 at 3:30 am
Looks very good, Ivy. Olive oil and tomatoes are so much better to cook in than water!
January 25th, 2009 at 6:09 am
That looks delicious Ivy and from the sounds of it, can have a multitude of different faces. Can’t wait to see all the ingredients.
January 25th, 2009 at 7:40 am
I wish to apologize for not visiting all of you lately but it was a very week with BloggerAid. Shall try and catch up soon.
Rosa, I am glad you enjoyed them.
January 25th, 2009 at 8:42 am
A delicious entry…beautiful vegetarian fare Ivy. Ladera are a huge favourite!
January 25th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Ladera are of the most distinctive Greek dishes! Beautiful entry Ivy.
January 25th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
I love the combination of foods in your first picture, If I’m ot wrong feta and the preparation and bread. Yummmmm. A lovely combination of vegetables in your second picture. It reminds me of our peas and potato curry. Lovely pictures too. Mouthwatering!
January 25th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
Your peas with carrots sounds fantastic! Served with feta and some bread, it sounds like a great vegetarian meal.
January 25th, 2009 at 8:39 pm
Looks great, Ivy! We had something similar this week, but with dill and potatoes instead of carrots. I love it, too. I could eat it all day.
January 25th, 2009 at 9:41 pm
This looks like a delicious addition to the cookbook Ivy. Gorgeous and very professional looking photo as well. More and more people are raising awareness for this cause that is near and dear to our hearts.
January 26th, 2009 at 1:26 am
Arakas Laderos is a staple in this house. One of the kids’ favorite dishes and something I make to either eat as is, or to accompany other weekly dishes. Great entry Ivy … I am still trying to decide what exactly I should enter for the cookbook.
January 26th, 2009 at 1:58 am
I have to try this peas and carrots recipe soon. Sounds so much better than the fibrous peas and carrots I remember straight from the freezer bag from my childhood. (No offense, Mom!)
I just made my Blogger Aid recipe today and it came out very tasty, so I shall hopefully post about it (but not divulging the recipe to save it for our cookbook project!) in the next couple of days. Thanks for all your hard work behind the scenes for Blogger Aid.
January 26th, 2009 at 2:39 am
What a lovely comforting vegetarian dish.
January 26th, 2009 at 5:57 am
Good call on X-ing the sugar here. You’ve got plenty of sweetness from the peas and carrots.
January 26th, 2009 at 6:47 am
Another healthy and simple Greek dish. I love it, thanks so much!
January 26th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
i love peas cooked like this! the herbier the better:)
January 26th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
An interesting dish Ivy - thanks for sharing it with us.
January 27th, 2009 at 9:09 am
Lovely simple food! looks so good. Check out my peas curry too!
January 27th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
I love peas and carrots made like this.
I mostly serve them with matbread this with mash potato.
January 30th, 2009 at 5:02 am
Thanks for being my first friend on BloggerAid, Ivy. This looks wonderful!
January 30th, 2009 at 6:45 am
Hi Ivy, I made this for dinner tonight. It’s a wonderful recipe!
February 1st, 2009 at 10:01 pm
brava ivy!!
I will follow you…
baciusss
February 4th, 2009 at 3:55 am
I really like the sound of this peas and carrot dish. The feta on the side would go great with it.
February 15th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Ivy,
I LOVE peas. I look for excuses to thrown them into dishes. My favorite is olive oil, salt, pepper, caramelized onion and pasta. Your dish looks soooo good.