Roasted Heirloom Carrots with Seeds and Avocado

ABC Kitchen’s Roasted Carrots and Citrus Salad

  • ABC Kitchen’s Roasted Carrots and Citrus Salad
  • ABC Kitchen’s Roasted Carrots and Citrus Salad
  • ABC Kitchen’s Roasted Carrots and Citrus Salad
  • ABC Kitchen’s Roasted Carrots and Citrus Salad
  • ABC Kitchen’s Roasted Carrots and Citrus Salad
  • ABC Kitchen’s Roasted Carrots and Citrus Salad

NOTES

Using heirloom carrots, with their range of colors, made all the difference aesthetically. Try and find those, and super fresh pea shoots or sunflower sprouts for the greens.

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350°.  Spread the seeds in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake, stirring occasionally, until lightly toasted and golden, but not golden brown, about 7 minutes. Cool completely.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the carrots and cook until a knife pierces them easily, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, with a mortar and pestle, pound the garlic, cumin, thyme, chili, 1½ tsp. salt, and ¾ tsp. pepper until crushed and pasty. Add the vinegar and ¼ c. of the olive oil and continue pounding until well-mixed. (Alternately, pulse in a blender or food processor until pasty.)

Drain carrots and arrange in a single layer in a medium roasting pan. Spoon the cumin mixture over.

Cut the whole orange in half. Arrange the 2 orange halves and 2 of the lemon halves over the carrots, cut-side down. Roast for 25 minutes or until carrots are golden brown. Transfer the carrots to a platter.

When cool enough to handle, squeeze 2 tbsp. juice each from the roasted orange and lemon into a small bowl. Whisk in the remaining 2 tbsp. oil to emulsify. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle over the carrots to your liking, reserving some for the next step.

Arrange the carrots on a serving platter. Dress sprouts and toss to coat. Arrange the avocado and sprouts on top of the carrots. Drizzle with reserved sauce.

If using, add dollop sour cream over the top, then sprinkle with seeds (recipe below). Serve immediately.

RECIPE

DIFFICULTY

MODERATE

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SERVES

3

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PREP TIME

24 MINS

Salad

  • 1 
    lb 
    medium carrots, peeled
  • 3 
     
    cloves garlic
  • 1 
    tsp 
    cumin seeds
  • 1/4 
    tsp 
    crushed red chili flakes
  • 4 
    cups 
    pea or sunflower shoots
  • 1 
    tsp 
    fresh thyme leaves
  • 1 
    tbs 
    pumpkin seeds
  • 1 
    tbs 
    white sesame seeds
  • 1 
    tbs 
    sunflower seeds
  • 1 
     
    avocado, peeled and sliced
  •  
     
    Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Dressing

  • 1 
    tbs 
    red wine vinegar
  • 1/4  
    cup 
    extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 
     
    lemon, halved
  • 1 
     
    orange, halved
  • 1 1/2  
    tbs 
    sour cream (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350°.  Spread the seeds in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake, stirring occasionally, until lightly toasted and golden, but not golden brown, about 7 minutes. Cool completely.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the carrots and cook until a knife pierces them easily, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, with a mortar and pestle, pound the garlic, cumin, thyme, chili, 1½ tsp. salt, and ¾ tsp. pepper until crushed and pasty. Add the vinegar and ¼ c. of the olive oil and continue pounding until well-mixed. (Alternately, pulse in a blender or food processor until pasty.)

Drain carrots and arrange in a single layer in a medium roasting pan. Spoon the cumin mixture over.

Cut the whole orange in half. Arrange the 2 orange halves and 2 of the lemon halves over the carrots, cut-side down. Roast for 25 minutes or until carrots are golden brown. Transfer the carrots to a platter.

When cool enough to handle, squeeze 2 tbsp. juice each from the roasted orange and lemon into a small bowl. Whisk in the remaining 2 tbsp. oil to emulsify. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle over the carrots to your liking, reserving some for the next step.

Arrange the carrots on a serving platter. Dress sprouts and toss to coat. Arrange the avocado and sprouts on top of the carrots. Drizzle with reserved sauce.

If using, add dollop sour cream over the top, then sprinkle with seeds (recipe below). Serve immediately.

I am trying something new for Mondays — I am preparing a recipe borrowed from another chef, restaurant or blogger. I don’t feel so creative on Mondays, but we still have to eat.

ABC Kitchen, the Jean Georges farm-to-table restaurant, is located in the ground floor of ABC Carpet and Home in the Gramercy area of Manhattan. According to the New York Times, this is THE place for ladies who Power Lunch, yet somehow, I have never been… It is quite a challenge to get a reservation, and I am not likely to plan my meals in advance.

A friend sent me this Daily Candy post with some of ABC Kitchen’s salad recipes and I decided I would give this roasted carrot dish a whirl. If you have vegan friends, you know that they tend to be obsessed with food (takes one to know one). They scour the planet in search of sustenance free of animal products, always thinking about where they will get their next meal. If you don’t believe me, take a road trip with a vegan, it’s intense!

I had a long overdue date with my dear friend, fabulous artist, and favorite vegan, Hong-An Truong. I roped her into making this somewhat complicated salad with me, knowing that if anyone would be up for it, it would be her. She and I often cook together, both in agreement that preparing and eating an excessive amount of vegetables is a wonderful way to spend an evening. In an effort to veganize this recipe, we skipped the sour cream; the salad was certainly not lacking for flavor and richness. The combination of thyme and cumin on the roasted carrots was unexpected and lovely, and the method of cooking them topped with the halved citrus was brilliant. I will surely use that trick again.

I adapted the overall amount of citrus used (we found we didn’t need the second orange), but aside from that, we tried our hardest to follow this recipe to the best of our ability (we had a lot to catch up on).