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As holiday meal planning commences, vegetables tend to be near to last on a long list of must-haves. But what if you could make the veggie on your menu something special, so it isn’t just like a dish you might serve any other night of the year?
Here’s one answer — our dressed-up version of a dinner-table mainstay: carrots. These gorgeous carrots are roasted with flavorful Indian spices, drizzled with a creamy dressing, then topped off with toasted, chopped walnuts and parsley.
There’s no question whether you should serve vegetable side dishes such as roasted carrots — especially when they supply so many healthful benefits. It’s just a matter of how to prepare them.
Whether boiled, steamed or roasted, carrots add a delicious and beautiful splash of color to a holiday table — especially if you can find multicolored heirloom carrots as we used here!
Just by adding some unique flavoring, you can make them the talk of the table! We spiced them up with both cumin and coriander — two aromatic spices that have been used in India for centuries.
More: Best basic glazed carrots plus 15 ingenious variations
This recipe also brings a bit of crunch to roasted carrots with a sprinkling of toasted walnuts. The mix of warm spices and creamy dressing make this a must-make dish.
Roasted carrots with Indian spices, creamy dressing and walnut-parsley topping
Yield 6-8
Ingredients
Carrots
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/3 cup orange juice
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1-1/2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 pounds assorted carrots in various colors, peeled and trimmed with partial tops and stems left intact
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
- 1/4 cup Italian parsley, roughly chopped
Creamy dressing
- 3/4 cup plain French or Greek yogurt
- 1 cup parsley
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- Salt
- Black pepper
Instructions
Carrots
- Preheat oven to 425 F.
- In a small skillet, toast ground cumin, ground ginger and red pepper flakes until fragrant. Remove from heat and set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine orange juice, oil, sherry vinegar and honey with carrots. Toss well with toasted spices, salt and pepper.
- Lay carrots on two rimmed baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Spread out on trays, not touching, and bake about 15 minutes. Then, rotate pans in oven and continuing baking until tender, approximately 25–30 minutes.
- Once carrots can be pierced with a fork easily, remove from heat and set aside.
Creamy walnut dressing
- In a small bowl, whisk yogurt, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, ground coriander, salt and pepper until well mixed.
- Place carrots on serving platter.
- Drizzle dressing on top of carrots.
- Before serving, garnish with toasted walnuts and additional parsley, if desired.
Courses Sides
Carrots provide nutrients and minerals that can help improve numerous health issues, such as lowering cholesterol and blood pressure, as well as helping to boost the immune system. Raw carrots are a great way to satisfy a snack craving while supplying us with these helpful health benefits, but it’s easier to take in those nutrients and minerals when eating carrots that have been cooked.
