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Baked Carrot Oven Fries Recipe
November 20, 2006 | by Heidi | Filed under Gluten Free Recipes, Quick Recipes, Side Dish Recipes, Vegan Recipes
This recipe for baked carrot oven fries was inspired by a trip down to the market on Saturday. I don't know if it's the jetlag or the cold medicine (gross) but I was pretty out of it when I got there. It's the last market before Thanksgiving and I had no plan whatsoever. None at all. I was saying something to this effect to Julia from Mariquita Farm when I spotted her huge pile of stunning purple carrots. Perfect for making a batch of oven fries.
Mariquita always has a great assortment of colorful carrots, and while I generally have a soft spot for the red ones, I knew in my heart that today was the day I was going to cheat on red with purple. They were a deep fade of ruby-magenta and the perfect size for roasting - not too short, not too long, with a few stubby ones in the mix to make things interesting. Cut them open and the cross-section revealed a stunning shock of yellow and orange.
Mariquita Carrots
This was my score of the day. I'm roasting them (right now) and will throw together some sort of dipping sauce so people can pretend they are some sort of baked carrot "fries". It seems like people will give anything a chance if you somehow attach the word 'fry' to the name (even if they are baked, as is the case here).
Roasted.
Once your oven is preheated they take all of three minutes to wash, cut, toss in olive oil, sprinkle in olive oil and pop in the oven. Another three to blend up the dipping sauce. You can use pretty much any small or medium sized farmers' market carrots this way.
What is everyone else making for Thanksgiving? Any break from the standards? I still don't have much of a plan in regards to what I'm going to contribute but I'm working on faith that it will all sort itself out over the next day or two.
Baked Carrot Oven Fries
The next time around I might do a chipotle spiked aioli in place of this tofu-based version (which is pretty good but....). The carrots are delicious straight off the pan with dipping sauce or without.
a big bunch of farmers' market carrots, washed, trimmed
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
Heat oven to 375.
Cut each carrot in half. Toss the entire bunch in a bowl with a couple glugs of olive oil. Arrange cut side down in a single layer on a baking sheet and sprinkle generously with salt. Bake for 30 minutes or until carrots are golden brown where they touch the pan.
Chipotle Orange Dipping Sauce
4 ounces organic tofu
1/4 cup orange juice
quick squeeze of lime
scant 1 teaspoon adobo sauce from a can of chipotle chiles
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
Puree all ingredients with a hand blender, taste and adjust for seasoning.
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Your Comments
matt said:Man oh man Heidi, I'm running home and making these - provided I can find some good carrots.
This looks DELICIOUS!
Those carrots are absolutely stunning. Why do people plant flowers when they can grow a bouquet of these instead? But then again, I am one of those gardeners who is constantly awed by the sheer, underrated beauty of vegetables. Love the idea of making them into fries. Thanks!
I have to say that photo is stunning. I have no words! I want to print that up as large as it will go and put it in my living room. Both the top photo and the middle photos are just breathtaking...wow.
These photos are haunting! Dark, vivid, lovely.
I have done something similar before. I added cumin before roasting. The idea was from a magazine & they did have you cut the carrots into 'fry' sizes. Next time I think I will just quarter them, yours look so good.
While your look good - mine are better! :) I can only say that because I grow the carrots myself. It is just so easy. Mind you I need to keep and eye on the dog while harvesting - he likes them as much as I do!
Boy, if I could find carrots as beautiful as those, I'd eat heckuva lot more carrots!
Get well soon...
I didn't see before purple carrots. In area where i live we have only ( I think ) ordinary carrots. I'll try to bake them but i'll take the small ones.
Did you know that orange carrots are a modern invention and that those purply/red ones are the original ancient vegetable?
Lovely indeed. I wanted to send this to a friend with whom I had a discussion about the original carrot being "black" and that the current orange ones are a modern invention, unfortunately your email "tell a friend" keeps giving me an error message of an invalid to with your address attached? Hum ...might want to have a look at it.
"so people can pretend they are some sort of baked carrot "fries". It seems like people will give anything a chance if you somehow attach the word 'fry' to the name"
LOL, it's true! I don't think I would have read this if it were titled Baked Carrot Sticks.
I really appreciate your terminology. I definitely know what a "glug" is.
I am stomping my feet and thrashing my fists in the air, wailing out loud and bemoaning the fact that Chicago farmers' markets end in October! Okay, maybe I'm being a little melodramatic.
Those carrots are beautiful!
I am thinking of making an Indian ( East Indian) thannksgiving meal using the traditional ingredients. I don't have a plan yet, but I am hopeful that it will turn out good.
I recently visited Nashville and rediscovered collard greens. I can't get enough, and since I'm from the South I think it will be a nice thing to add to the potluck Thanksgiving I'm attending. I am going to chop several bunches of them in one inch squares, boil them with a little vegetable bullion until the bitterness is gone, and then at the last minute I'll quickly stir-fry them with salt, pepper, and lemon juce.
I also always make my grandmother's cabbage pie. I can hardly wait!
OK>>>>>HILLPAGAN???????? Why don't you give us the info on a cabbage pie! Do have any idea how good cabbage is for us! PLEASE..give me an idea of what your talking about!!! Here's a goodie! Stir-fry bacon (cut in 1 in pieces), geen peppers, and onion ! Throw your "Cut" cabbagge on top with a (maybe 2) tablespoons of water...just enough to wilt it good! When you load it with water, all your doing is throwing all your nutrition down the drain! Maybe even get a little off base, and use a few tablespoons of "Butter" !
well, i've officially added this terrific dish to my thanksgiving menu...the pictures are completely inspiring! since my bf and our guest of honor are both vegetarians, we're sparing the bird.
we're having a cocktail hour featuring...
*my baked brie en croute with spiced apples, currants, walnuts & honey
*heidi's carrot fries & homemade basil hummus
*blood orange-pomegranate vodka martini
for dinner we're making...
*black lentin & butternut squash soup
*roasted brussel sprouts tossed in maple syrup & cracked pepper with fried shallots
*roasted green beans & garlic
*a winter vegetable gratin (sweet potatoes, parsnips, celery root, fennel bulb, russet & swiss chesse)
*garlic mashed potatoes (the natives threatened to revolt if i excluded this holiday staple in favor of the gratin)
*veggie stuffing
*veggie gravy which i'm devising all on my own from a thick stock that's been cooking all day
*citrus cranberry sauce
desert...
*apple tartin with bourbon vanilla whipped cream
those carrots and carrot fries look so good! I'll have to try making them!
Moenajiera Ryklief said:im hungreeeeeeeeeee now!!!
*drools*
Love Naj
p.s.im def making this for a snack tonight!
Bruno Vieira said:Awesome Pic Heydi. Awesome....
..Wish I was the one who took it.
Congrats,
Aren't the carrots pretty? My only regret is not buying more of them.
Thanks for all the comments. Sarah Mac, your menu sounds delicious!
Pasticciera, I'll look in to the send to a friend problem, thanks for the heads up.
-h
Lovely carrots :o)
Since I'm going to a potluck, and they're providing all the standards, I figured I'd bring some more interesting things, so I made lavender (mini)scones with orange cream dipping sauce, aplo manti (bulgar/kasha mix with artichoke hearts, pine nuts, and onions cooked in wine and lemon juice, topped with leftover phyllo dough from..) and spanikopetes.
Oh how I miss San Francisco. I am already dreading the winter. All we seem to be able to buy here now (Ireland) is carrots, the "normal" variety, cabbage, turnips and leeks. Where are the fresh beans, purple potatoes, broccoli rabe, tomatillos, nice sweet potatoes (not the tasteless ones you get in the supermarket, if you can find them) ? I am so going to grow some veggies next year.
Your pictures are absolutely amazing, a friend of mine smuggled in loads of canned Chipotles, the Dipping Sauce and the Aioli sound great.
Ooh, I'm going to make these tonight. They look like the perfect antidote to all the stuffing I ate yesterday.
I wish someone would send me a beautiful bouquet of purple carrots.
I used to have a friend who served a scrumptious cabbage and cayenne dish for New Year's. I wish I had asked for his recipe before he passed away so early in life. Pat Broussard, a cajun's cajun cook.
Those carrots are absolutely stunning. Lovely carrots ! ... mmMmmMmmMMmm
I love those carots! Hope I can find some in France because I've never seen purple carots in supermaket... Here's a picture for carots-lovers: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Carrots_of_many_colors.jpg
Your website makes me happy. ^^
OOOOOO! Purple carrots! It's been a long time since I've seen those--I'm hoping to plant a multicolored batch in my garden next year.
I found your carrots after posting a picture of my OWN colorful carrots that I picked up at my local farm stand on the East End on Long Island. (A friend saw my post and tipped me off to your site.) You can check out my amateur (to say the least) photo on gourmet.com (Daily Planetary). And you can bet I'm turning my bunch into Carrot Fries this weekend. Thanks.
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