Potato-carrot tart

Happy Valentine's Day!

I had several bunches of carrots that needed to be used up in some fashion, thanks to my winter CSA (and let's not even talk about how many potatoes I've been getting). Including a beautiful bunch of rainbow carrots. So I decided to make something particularly colorful (and healthy) for V-Day. I mean, anyone can write about pork tenderloin or steak or chocolate for V-Day; how many blogs write about carrots?

(I know, it's lame. But tomorrow I'm posting the carrot cake I made!)

(For chocolate recipes, I refer you back to chocolate mousse, or possibly to these chocolate chip-Nutella pastries.)

1 medium or two small potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
salt and pepper
olive oil
1 onion, halved and thinly sliced
1-2 cups grated carrots (depending on how big you want the tart to be; I made two, one with only a little grated carrot and one with quite a lot, and there was no discernible difference in overall quality)
1/2 cup grated cheese (I used Manchego and parmesan; Gruyere or Swiss would also work)

First, let me sidetrack and sing the wonders of my food processor. I used it to shred the cheese, then the carrots, and then to slice the potatoes. And it all took about 30 seconds, total.

Mix the butter, thyme, mustard, salt and pepper in a bowl, and toss with the potato slices. Layer those in a pie pan (I used these beautiful purple potatoes):

Bake that for 20 minutes in a 400-degree oven, or until the potatoes are nicely crispy. You really want them crispy.

Meanwhile, saute the onion and grated carrot in a little olive oil, until the onion is nicely browned.

When the potatoes are crispy, take the pie pan out of the oven and add the carrot mix, then top with grated cheese. Bake for another 10-15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and browned.

Let cool at least 5 minutes before serving.

You could easily substitute olive oil for the butter and leave off the cheese to make this a yummy vegan dish.

Cost: my goodness, practically nothing this time of year. I can get a 15-pound bag of potatoes for $5, a 10-pound bag of onions for $5, and a 3-pound bag of carrots for $2, making the non-cheese cost of this...50 cents? Maybe? Plus let's say another 50 cents for the cheese. $1 total for this gorgeous, healthy tart with four generous adult servings.

If you're going out to a decadent V-Day dinner tonight, you could have this with a green salad for lunch and feel very virtuous (also, that would leave more room for the chocolate-chip Nutella pastries).