I used to hate cooked carrots. They seemed like a crime against the carrot family—some form of torture to make such a crunchy, beautiful vegetable soft and mushy. Who cares if they tasted a bit sweeter cooked. I liked my carrots perky, gosh darn it. And then I had the roasted carrots at Gjelina, my favorite restaurant in LA.
And everything changed. They were so sweet it was crazy, but not cloying like roasted beets. The middle eastern spices mingled ecstatically with the brightness of olive oil. And a cool cilantro yogurt sauce made the magic all too real. I was sold. I wanted roasted carrots forever and ever.
Yet for some reason, I still hesitated to make them at home. Perhaps I was still worried how the carrots left behind in the fridge would feel about my roasting their brothers and sisters. Risking carrot mutiny, I took the roasting into my own hands. It was shockingly easy, and incredibly delicious. Don’t skimp on the spices. Or the yogurt. Or the pistachios. And preferably eat the whole shebang with your hands.
Ingredients
Roasted Carrots
- 12-16 small or medium carrots (baby Thumbelina, or heirloom are the best!)
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- ½ tsp. dried fennel seeds crushed (use a mortar and pestle, your fingers, or the flat part of a knife handle against a cutting board)
- ½ tsp. powdered cumin
- coarse salt to taste
- 2 tbsp. shelled roasted & salted pistachio nuts roughly chopped
Cilantro Yogurt
- 1 cup whole milk yogurt
- 1 tsp. olive oil
- squeeze of lemon
- pinch of salt
- 1.5 tsp. torn fresh cilantro leaves
Instructions
- Preheat oven (or toaster oven, like I dito 42Rinse and dry the carrots, and lay them (unpeeleon a roasting pan or cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and crushed spices, and sprinkle with salt. Toss the carrots in this mixture until they’re well coated. Add more olive oil if they look a little dry. Place in oven for 20-25 minutes, turning every 7 minutes to roast evenly.
- While the carrots are cooking, mix ingredients for cilantro yogurt in a small bowl and set aside.
- Carrots will be done when the skin is starting to pucker and brown, and they are tender to a knife or fork. Plate the carrots on top of a few dollops of cilantro yogurt, and top with extra oil and spices from the roasting pan, and a sprinkle of roasted pistachio nuts.
