charred carrots w/ a spicy ginger cilantro dressing & toasty almonds
This recipe feels like spring and is so easy to throw together! It’s sweet and spicy and smokey and bright and everything I want from a veggie dish. The dressing can be made up to 1 day ahead of time and is great on all kinds of things: any kind of roasted veg, steak, chicken, used as salad dressing, etc. I honestly cant think of anything it wouldn’t be good on, which is great because you will have some left over. I used marcona almonds in this recipe but feel free to use whatever nut you have on hand.
This recipe is great warm but also wonderful room temperature. Which makes it a perfect make ahead side dish that you don’t have to worry too much about serving at a specific temperature.
ingredients
this serves about 4 people as a side dish
2 bunches of carrots, about 2 lbs. tops removed and left whole. if some are quite larger than the others cut them in 1/2 lengthwise. you want them to all be roughly the same size
1/3 cup marcona almonds, roughly chopped
2 tbs + 1 tsp olive oil, divided
1 tsp salt + pepper to taste
for the dressing
1 cup packed cilantro, leaves and stems. it will be about 1/2 a large bunch.
2 cloves garlic, skin removed
1 small shallot, skin removed
juice of 2 limes
1 tbs unseasoned rice vinegar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp honey
1 serrano pepper (or 1/2 if you like less spice), top of the pepper removed
1 inch knob of fresh ginger, no need to skin it. cut off any dry looking end.
2 tsp salt, plus more to taste
instructions
preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit
add the carrots to a sheet pan and drizzle with 2 tbs olive oil, 1 tsp salt, and a few grinds of pepper and toss to combine. place in the preheated oven and roast for about 15-20 minutes. checking after 15 minutes for doneness. you want them to be charred in places and fork tender. if your carrots are on the larger side and not quite tender after 15, give them a toss and place back in the oven for another 5 minutes.
while the carrots are cooking make the dressing. add everything for the dressing to a blender (cilantro, garlic, shallot, lime juice, rice vinegar, honey, olive oil, serrano pepper, ginger and salt). blend everything on high until smooth, it took my blender 1-2 minutes. pour into a container and set aside.
add the chopped nuts along with 1 tsp olive oil to a small frying pan and place over medium heat. cook the nuts, frequently tossing them so that they don’t burn, until they are golden brown all over. about 2-3 minutes. toss with a pinch of salt and then turn them out onto a paper towel lined plate to cool.
when the carrots are done transfer them to a serving platter. when you are ready to serve them, drizzle them with a good amount of the dressing and then top with the marcona almonds. (you will have some dressing left over)
