Winter Roasted Carrots

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Spray an 11-by-13-inch roasting pan with cooking oil spray. Place the carrots in the pan. Peel the onions and cut them into quarters. Cut the quarters in half again and add the pieces to the pan with the carrots. Peel the garlic by placing the broad side of a chef's knife or other flat object over each clove and giving it a firm whack with your hand. Add the cloves to the pan. (Don't worry if the cloves break apart.) Drizzle the olive oil over the vegetables, then sprinkle the thyme, salt and pepper over them. Stir and toss until the vegetables are coated with oil. Bake, uncovered, 12 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and stir. Return the pan to the oven and bake 12 more minutes, stirring every 4 minutes, until the carrots begin to brown and are tender when pierced with a knife tip. Remove the pan from the oven and drizzle the vinegar over the vegetables. Stir and toss until the vinegar is well-distributed. Serve 1/2-cup servings as a side dish. Cool the remaining vegetables and refrigerate in a covered container for up to 4 days. Note: Sometimes the water sprinklers in supermarket produce sections waterlog the bags of baby carrots. Your carrots will brown properly if they have not been saturated with water. Per 1/2-cup serving: 79 calories (percent of calories from fat, 41), 1 gram protein, 11 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 4 grams fat, no cholesterol, 166 milligrams sodium