Delicious things to do with Roasted Carrots

Many years ago, probably when I was in my 40s,  I read "The Man Who Ate Everything" by Jeffrey Steingarten and thought "I want to be just like him when I grow up".  The thing that particularly attracted me was that as he was (and is) a food writer people were always sending him wonderful things to test and write about.  

Well I think it might have started happening to me too - a few weeks ago I was invited up to London (I live in Cornwall) to try a carrot; not just an ordinary carrot mind you, a Chantenay carrot.  I couldn't afford the trip but luckily a few days ago my real man brought home some bargain carrots of the very same race, I think he paid 35p instead of the full price of £1 but there was absolutely nothing wrong with them so I didn't use them for a few days.

Then I roasted them - just topped and tailed, tossed them with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and cooked alongside a roasting chicken.  They took about an hour or a bit more and for the first 45 minutes I kept them covered with foil, then uncovered them to caramelise. 

These were so delicious that even my real man liked them, so I got all inspired, did it again and had a play.

My ideas for Roasted Carrots ...

Glazed Roasted Carrots 

To make them even more special just before serving melt in a little honey and butter to make a little glaze.

Warm and Nutty Carrot Salad

This was the second thing I tried - I just tossed some of the smallest  carrots whole together with a few pecans and tender leaves and drizzled with balsamic glaze with is, of course, sweet and so perfect with carrots. This was my first attempt just to see what I thought. I added crunchy sea salt and black pepper, thought WOW and stopped there.  This is really good!

Roasted Carrot Dip 

Purée "leftover" roast carrots with something appropriate to make a dip. I had some leftover sour cream and onion dip and added some parsley but cream cheese, mayonnaise or even hummus would make good alternatives.

Roasted Carrot Vinaigrette

For this I used about 60ml olive oil and 20ml cider vinegar with 5 roasted and puréed Chantenay carrots.  I add a pinch of salt and sweetened with honey; about 2 teaspoons, and prettied it up a bit with some chopped parsley.

This is based on my genius vinaigrette recipe ~ read more, with lots of suggestions, here.

Creamy Roasted Carrot Soup

I use pretty well the same basic recipe for all my soups (and have written a book "SOUP (almost) the Only Recipe You'll Ever Need" about this "genius" recipe) and this was no exception. The basic idea is to cook an onion my favourite way and when tender add a sliced potato or two and just cover with stock or water. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat, cover and simmer till tender. Add your roasted carrots and cook a few minutes more. Purée, dilute with more stock, milk or cream to your ideal soup consistency then taste and season.  I added a few chunks of roasted carrot and some parsley for added poshness.

In other news ...

Talking of orange coloured bargains - take a look at these; 17 beautiful lilies. still in bud when we bought them, for just £1.  They lasted almost three weeks.

And here for your delectation is a car covered in grass (fake I presume) that I saw in Truro - I cut off the front of the photo to save the driver's privacy.