ALLCAPS COOKBOOK PRESENTS: Roasted Carrot-Herb Salad (Patreon)

Roasted Carrot-Herb Salad 

I’m just going to admit up front that I DEAD-ASS STOLE this recipe from Maria Dahvana-Headley. Two years ago I went to a writers’ retreat she organized and she made it for all of us and it was so amazing that I begged for the recipe. That recipe, as with all great cooks, was mostly vague and all measurements were in “handfuls” and “bunches”, but I managed to make it work well enough at home to have served it a few times since.

It’s just so good and toothsome and healthy and wintery and bright and a really good way to use up parsley and marjoram if you have an herb garden. They key is to add the hot carrots to a bowl already full of the greenery so it wilts a little and loses some of the sharp punch-in-the-face that so much raw leaf-ness can pack, then let it all sit in the lemon juice for a good bit to break down the flavors. 

It seems so simple but it tastes CRAZY IMPRESSIVE and it goes very well with Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner to cut through all the richness. I feel like it needs a sexier name than this but I’m almost all out of 2019 and my brain is broken. JUST EAT YOUR CARROTS, KIDS IT’S GOOD FOR YOUR EYESIDE ACTUALLY THAT’S JUST A MYTH BUT WHATEVER EAT IT, MEGAN

Ingredients

2 full bags of carrots or two large bunches

1/3 cup + 1 tblsp olive oil or sesame oil 

1 tblsp sumac

3 tblsp black sesame seeds, toasted

2 tblsp cumin

3-4 cloves finely chopped garlic

1 medium-sized bunch Italian parsely, finely chopped (about what they’ll give you  in the store wrapped in a rubber band)

1 bunch/package fresh marjoram, finely chopped, discarding stems

Juice of 2 lemons

Zest of 1 lemon

1/2-3/4 cup crumbled fets, depending on your lust for cheese

5-6 sprigs fresh thyme (optional)

5-6 sprigs fresh oregano (optional

Salt and pepper and cayenne (you know the spice drill around here) to taste

Method to Carrot Madness

Peel carrots and chop into irregular small chunks, not rounds. Toss in 1/3 cup olive oil (if they seem dry, add more) and a bit of salt, pepper, cumin, and cayenne and roast at 375 for about 40 minutes, turning so that all sides get brown and crisp. Sometimes I like to add a bit of brown sugar in the last ten minutes of baking. Don’t add it at the beginning or it will burn.

Meanwhile, combine herbs, cheese, lemon juice and zest, garlic, remainder of spices, and sesame seeds in a large bowl. When carrots are done, add immediately to the bowl of green, add last tablespoon of oil, mix thoroughly, taste, adjust seasoning, and let sit for at least 15 minutes before serving.

PS: for those of you who asked awhile back about my glassblowing days--I made the serving bowl in the photo!