The lovely, elegant, brilliant and beautiful Liz Rueven from Kosher Like Me is next up with a guest post while my house is under construction and I am ALL IN with this recipe! I love rainbow roasted carrots and her flavor combination is out of control. Ras El Hanout, ginger, maple and honey just belong on carrots and I’m excited to share this recipe with all of you! Liz is a genius, right??? Her motto is ‘Fresh Flavors Rooted in Tradition’ and this recipe is a pure reflection of that. And now Liz will take over my blog for the day…
Before I started shopping at my weekly farmers’ market in CT, I associated carrots with late Autumn. But that notion was dashed when I recently noticed mounds of carrots popping up in greenmarkets in July and August. And those colors! I had never seen bright white, buttery yellow, crimson or amethyst carrots before.
My first taste of just pulled carrots was a revelation. There was a burst of flavor beyond that boring earthiness of tired carrots from a plastic bag. Freshly harvested carrots tasted like a distant (and more charismatic) cousin to those I had been eating. I like to heighten the more nuanced flavor of fresh carrots by lightly coating them with natural sweeteners. Consider combining honey and maple syrup with multiple seasonings like Ras El Hanout and freshly grated ginger.
This dish is great served warm or at room temperature. You may want to consider it as a side dish on your Rosh HaShanah table. But don’t wait until then to try freshly harvested summer carrots.
Show off that your carrots were recently harvested and you’ll be sure to prompt some fun conversation. I find their straggly tails and exposed roots charming and even whimsical so I leave them on the plate for all to see. Kids will love that, too.
Roasted Carrots with Ras El Hanout and Ginger
Ingredients
- 1 pound rainbow carrots
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
- cracked fresh pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon Ras El Hanout*
- 3⁄4 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons honey
Instructions
- If using farm fresh carrots, scrub them of any stubborn dirt, pat dry. If using bagged baby carrots, rinse and pat dry.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. and line baking sheet with foil.
- In a large bowl, toss carrots with seasonings, maple syrup and honey.
- Place carrots in single layer on lined cookie sheet and roast for 15 minutes. Toss with tongs and roast another 15 minutes or until they yield to fork poke and are golden around the edges.
- Place on a brightly colored plate and enjoy nature’s candy.
Notes
- *North African spice mix that varies but most often includes cumin, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, coriander and cloves
