This side dish of roasted cilantro-lime carrots is simple, quick and may become one of your favorite ways to prepare carrots. The vibrant orange color of the roasted carrots team up with the citrusy flavor of the freshly squeezed lime, chopped fresh cilantro and a sprinkling of sea salt flakes.
I used the medium-size carrots for this recipe and selected a bunch that were all pretty much uniform in size, sliced and oiled them and gave them a generous dose of flakey sea salt and roasted them in a hot oven.
The carrots had a nice sweet taste to them while raw and that sugar seeped out and caramelized while roasting and added to their deliciousness. They were garnished with the fresh cilantro and a squeeze of fresh lime juice was just ‘over the top’. This side dish is easy to prepare, roasts quickly and makes a great addition to any dinner.
Carrots come in all sorts of shapes, sizes and a rainbow of colors. They grow short and stubby, long and skinny and tiny little carrots that look half grown. After many years of eating bagged baby carrots, I learned that they don’t really grow like that but larger carrots are whittled down to be baby carrots. Ha!
We mostly think of carrots as being orange but I love those purple carrots and the ones that are almost white. Here is a little carrot trivia …. Carrots were formerly every color: red, black, yellow, white and especially purple but not orange! They were first cultivated in Afghanistan and originally had purple exteriors with yellow flesh. In the Middle Ages, the Dutch developed the bright orange carrot.
I am aware of the controversy over the flavor of cilantro which I love but if you are one of the folks that find cilantro not to your liking then flat-leaf parsley can be substituted.
Here are some side dish ideas:
This recipe has been adapted from my Cooking Light, The New Way to Cook cookbook.
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Roasted Cilantro-Lime Carrots
Ingredients
- 3 pounds carrots peeled
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon sea salt flakes
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves
- ½ fresh lime
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 500°F with rack in lower third.
- Slice the carrots in half lengthwise then cut them diagonally into 2-inch pieces.
- Toss carrots with oil and spread them out onto a baking sheet, cut side down and the thickest pieces to the edges. Sprinkle with the salt flakes and roast 20 minutes in the middle of the oven. Check them after 15 minutes, turning them if they are brown and continue roasting until tender but still a little firm, or to your desired doneness.
- Remove from the oven and transfer the carrots to a serving dish, sprinkle with the cilantro and squeeze the lime juice over the top.
Laura
Thursday 19th of November 2015
This looks like a great side dish for Thanksgiving! Thanks! If I'm serving 14 and have lots of other food, would a double recipe be enough do you think?
Pat
Friday 20th of November 2015
Hi, Laura! Yes, double it up and that should do it with all the yummies you will be preparing. Happy Thanksgiving to you!