Spiced Roasted Carrots with Green Sauce

What I love about this recipe is that the carrots are self-saucing, if you will - the carrot greens make a delicious, thick sauce for the roasted carrots themselves. The recipe is warm and aromatic, with turmeric, cinnamon, red pepper flake, and dill. You use the whole carrot and the roast is so tender, you don’t even need to peel them - cutting down on time and waste. Enjoy the cooling yogurt sauce that tempers the spices for a lovely balance. Enjoy!

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This recipe really honors the whole carrot - and it is made even more gorgeous with fresh carrots. This is a recipe where if you have access to fresh carrots, from a nearby farm, garden, or CSA, it is way better than from the grocery store. I’ll tell you why. When I get carrots from the grocery store, the green fronds tend to be, well, sad. And dirty. Carrot greens are very feathery, so they can catch a lot of sand. They are downright muddy most of the time - kudos to you if you have a great supermarket that avoids this problem.

I’ve found that local carrots give cleaner, more tender greens. Carrot greens are nice in that they don’t wilt as easily as some other leaves - they have a strong peppery flavor and have a thick texture. You’ll want to blend them for this recipe with an immersion blender or food processor, because it helps avoid some of the grittiness that comes with a carrot green if taken raw and whole. 

You’ll start by coating the carrots in olive oil and the spice mix, and then roasting to soften. I always add a bit of water to my roasting pan because it helps steam the carrots a bit - getting them soft rather than tough. Leaving the skin on allows for a better bite after roasting, too, but without the water, the skin can dry out and become more leathery. Carrots are very healthy, high in beta-carotene. Turmeric and cinnamon also have healthful properties and are very fragrant - used in small quantities in this recipe.

Tip: Turmeric stains things very easily - be careful of your clothes and consider an apron when you are mixing the carrots with their herb rub, though the application here really shouldn’t cause much of a mess, since it is pretty contained. If really getting into it, however, turmeric will stain your hands yellow and even your cutting board, so take note. The potent flavor is well worth the colorful risk.

While the carrots are cooking, you can prepare the sauce. You’ll wait to make sure the greens are clean by shaking out any loose dirt and then washing them. Combine the greens with the water, oil, and yogurt and blend until nicely combined and the yogurt has turned green. If the mix is too thick, add more water and continue to blend. I recommend using a tall, thin food container to immersion blend if you don’t have a built-in container that will fit. Using a tall-sided container helps avoid splashes out of the vessel.

The farm produce CSA box I’ve been getting this summer came with nasturtium, a decorative, edible flower during one week and it was such a treat! I’ve never cooked with edible flowers before and it made this recipe look extra gorgeous. If you are serving for a dinner party or just want to impress, I highly recommend it! The yellow, red, and orange flowers looked beautiful with the carrots’ orange. 

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Cooking with new ingredients sometimes helps me appreciate food even more - there are so many things to try and explore. 

When the carrots are done roasting and the sauce is made, lay down the carrots and drizzle the sauce on top - or lay down the sauce as a bed and put the carrots atop. Take all the extra, spiced oil remaining at the bottom of the baking dish and drizzle it over the top of the dish. If using, top with the nasturtium and serve as a side dish!

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Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 45 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients

For the roasted carrots

• One large bunch of carrots, with greens removed and reserved

• 1.5 tbs oil

• ½ tsp ground turmeric

• ½ tsp ground cinnamon

• 5 stems of dill, approximately 2 tbs, chopped and packed

• ¼ tsp red pepper flakes

• ¼ tsp freshly ground pepper

• Pinch of salt

• ¼ cup water

• Optional garnish: nasturtium flowers

For the carrot-top sauce

• Carrot tops from one bunch of carrots (see above)

• 1 cup greek or icelandic yogurt

• ½ cup water

Equipment

Immersion blender

Baking dish

Bowl

Instructions

• Preheat an oven to 350 degrees.

• Remove the greens from the carrot tops by twisting and pulling or with a sharp knife, and leave to the side.

• Wash the carrots and lay them in one layer on a baking dish with vertical sides - I used a glass dish..

• Finely chop the fresh dill.

• Add to the carrots the olive oil and the turmeric, cinnamon, dill, pepper flakes, ground pepper, and salt. Toss or rub in to evenly coat the carrots with the spice and oil mix.

• Add the water to the bottom of the dish and bake for 45 minutes, turning the carrots occasionally (1-2 times) or until the carrots are tender. You’ll know they are ready when you can pierce the fattest parts of the carrots easily all the way through with the tines of a fork.

• While the carrots bake, wash the carrot greens thoroughly and chop coarsely. 

• Add the yogurt to a large bowl or container - or the basin of a food processor if using instead of an immersion blender.

• Add the carrot greens and water and blend until fully smooth and green. If the mixture is too thick, add more water until it is a thick, flowing sauce.

• When the carrots are done, add the carrots and sauce to a serving dish and drizzle the leftover spiced oil from the baking dish on top.

• If using, top with nasturtium flowers and serve. 

• Enjoy!