Lemon Tahini Roasted Carrots
from Bi-Rite, modified by Epicurean San Diego
When we lived in San Francisco, my husband, Dan, worked at the best local market in the city called Bi-Rite. Bi-Rite is a family owned and operated small grocer serving San Francisco with two locations, a creamery, a non-profit cooking school and a boutique organic farm in Sonoma. Dan will always hold his time at Bi-Rite as some of his best and most influential times in learning about the importance of shopping locally, eating seasonally and why spending more on good, quality products makes all the difference.
Dan came home from their annual holiday party ranting and raving about these damn lemon-tahini roasted carrots that Sam (their owner) makes every year for his staff. I obviously didn't need much convincing. I love trying new things and honestly, was kind of jones-ing for a new way to eat carrots. Added bonus- Sam willingly shares his recipe with his staff and the rest of the world (find it here). What we love about this recipe is that you can get almost everything at your local farmers market!
Here is our modified version of Sam's recipe below! Enjoy!
Prep time: 15 minutes // Cook time: 45 minutes // Total: 60 minutes // Serving size: 4
Ingredients / Equipment:
2 bunches of local carrots (with tops)
¼ cup tahini
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil + some for roasting
¼ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
salt + pepper to taste
handful of chopped carrot tops or chopped cilantro
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Rinse carrots and remove tops, reserving a handful for garnishing. Peel them if you want. Also, we like to leave them whole or you can cut them in to uniform sizes.
Toss carrots with olive oil, salt and pepper and place in baking pan. Bake for 30-45 minutes.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together tahini, olive oil, and lemon juice. Add garlic, salt and pepper.
Once carrots are cooked to your liking (some like them more or less cooked than others) and have slightly cooled, cut them in half and toss them in the dressing and sprinkle the carrot tops or cilantro around. Voila!
Notes: if you decided to cut them, cook time might be a little quicker. Also, don't be shy and limit this delicious dressing to carrots. Its great on any roasted veggies! We love it on squash too!
