Roast Honey Carrots with Citrus Creamy Tahini Dressing with a Kick

Roasted carrots have long been my favourite side dish for the holidays, the thing about carrots it’s that they turn even more delicious once being roasted and they are ready in no time! sure I love roasted potatoes too but carrots should take a high place as well in the list of best taste roasted veg.

If you pick up your carrots from your local farmers market I guarantee they will taste better, the older I get the more I realise and appreciate the quality that fresh local produce provides , if I want to indulge on something during this time of the year I indulge on buying the best produce and ingredients I can, so even though you might be doing something simple in preparation if you have the best quality ingredients it will turn out amazing.

For that reason these beauties will be on my Christmas lunch menu but this recipe will work well throughout the winter, and if you get good looking carrots from the market even better, because they are normally organic there is no need to peel the skins off just give them a good scrub, cut the carrot tops but not all the way, they look quite pretty if you leave a bit of the tops left on, coat them in the olive oil, honey and maldon salt, roast them and then drizzled with the fresh and delicious dressing with a chipotle kick, sprinkled with roasted nuts and fresh rosemary just makes it more Christmassy and provides that tasty crunch!

Serves 4

Ingredients.

1 kg organic carrots.

2 tbsp organic honey.

2 tbsp olive oil.

2 tsp maldon salt.

Citrus Yoghurt Tahini Dressing

1 1/2 cups of greek yoghurt.

2 mandarin ( juice).

1 lemon (juice and zest).

1 tbsp light tahini paste.

1 tbsp tahini oil.

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil.

2 black garlic cloves (you can use regular garlic just reduce the amount to 1 clove).

2 tsp chipotle flakes

1 tsp ground guajillo.

1 tsp tabasco sauce.

1/2 cup of water.

Sea salt and black coarse pepper to season.

1 cut of mixed nuts ( roasted briefly and chopped roughly).

A handful of fresh rosemary sprigs.

Method.

Preheat oven at 180 C

Wash and cut the tops of your carrots, if they are too big cut in half lengthwise , place them on a baking dish and pour the honey and olive oil on top, mix everything with your hands making sure all the carrots are coated.

Roast your veg for about 20 - 25 minutes, depending on the size of the carrots this may take a bit longer.

In the meantime prepare your dressing in a medium bowl add the yoghurt, mandarin and lemon juice (totally recreating Meyer lemon flavour) , tahini paste, tahini oil ( a bit of the oil in the tahini jar ), extra virgin olive oil, black garlic (mashed), chipotle flakes, guajillo, tabasco sauce and water, mix with a whisk until all the ingredients are integrated into a creamy dressing, then taste and season with a bit of sea salt and black coarse pepper, add more water if the consistency is too thick, you want it to be runny crema like consistency.

Roast your nuts briefly on a baking tray once they start smelling lovely and Christmassy they are ready! get them out of the oven and chop them roughly, set aside.

So get your roasted veg out of the oven serve up in a pretty platter, arrange nicely and drizzle the creamy dressing on top, add the chopped nuts and a few sprigs of fresh rosemary, finish the dish with black coarse pepper on top and they are ready to be enjoyed with the rest of your feast, serve the remaining dressing on the side trust me you would want to add a bit more on everything.