Charred Broccoli and Carrots

Not sure where I got this, but I modified it a bit to include carrots, which char especially well, carmelizing nicely.

Makes three or four good sized side-dish servings.

Ingredients

• 1 # broccoli
• ¼ # carrots
• ½ t red pepper flakes
• 2½ or 3 T olive oil
• 5 or 6 anchovies, mashed with fork
• 1½ t garlic, minced
• 1 or 2 T water

Preparation

• Cut up and trim the broccoli. Cut off the florets and cut into easy bite-sized pieces. Trim the tough skins off the stalks. (Be kind of aggresive about this, as left-over tough strings can spoil the texture). Cut the pared stems into fat 2-inch matchsticks (maybe like short french fries?)
• Similarly cut the carrots into 2-inch french fry-sized pieces.
• Mix the broccoli, carrots, and red pepper flakes together.
• Pour olive oil into 12-inch skillet, and heat on high until nearly smoking.
• Add broccoli/carrots/flakes and stir just until coated. Then let sit unstirred at least a minute (maybe a bit longer) to char. You should see lots of steam being driven out of the veggies by the heat. You can occasionally pick a piece up with tongs to see how it's going.
• Turn down the heat to maybe medium high, and push the mixture toward one side of the skillet.
• Dump the anchovies and garlic into the open space and cook, stirring, maybe 1½ minutes. Try not to scorch the garlic.
• Mix everything together so anchovies are well dispersed.
• Add some water and quickly cover. Let steam for maybe three minutes (until al dente).
• Serve.

Hints

• I find there's plenty of salt in the anchovies. YMMV.
• I like serving this with my own tangy/earthy hummus for a contrasting flavor and texture.