Veggies and Grains Archives

Harissa Carrots with Yogurt and Chaat Masala Granola

This is how I wan to eat all the time: roasty vegetables, with something fresh and creamy, showered with a crunchy, salty topping. Harissa Carrots with Yogurt and Chaat Masala Granola, I luh’ you. I actually just read in Bon Appetit magazine that charred carrots with yogurt is on their list of things they are ready to see go away. Yet, here I am, posting this recipe. Because it is amazingly good! With the perfect combo of sweet, tangy, salty, roasty, crunchy… I just can’t agree, Bon Appetit! Super-roasted, spicy carrots on top of cooling, tangy yogurt, topped with this crispy, salty granola are still a good thing. So, here we go.

roasted carrots on a swirl of yogurt, topped with granola and chopped cilantro on a white plate with a fork

I am borrowing the carrot part of this recipe from this cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi. It’s my new favorite way to roast carrots – dousing them in butter, honey, and harissa and blasting them in a 475 degree oven for 12 minutes. Harissa, if you’re not familiar, is a North African seasoning full of hot peppers, paprika, salt, garlic, cumin, etc. It’s fiery and delicious. You can find it in paste form at some grocery stores or online. We also carry it in a dry spice blend form at the spice shop my mom and I own in Duck.

spicy, crispy Bff’s

Once you’ve roasted your carrots to a nice, borderline-burnt, sweet and spicy crisp, the rest of this recipe is super basic. Stir a squirt of lemon juice and a pinch of salt into some Greek yogurt, spread it on a plate, pile on the carrots, and sprinkle it all with this chaat masala granola. Remember that granola? Full of buttery cashews and pistachios, loaded with warm Indian spice, tangy dried apricots and coconut flakes? Yup – turns out, these spicy carrots are its soul mate. They belong together, 100%.

The flavor combo of everything in this recipe is so satisfying – we haven’t even mentioned… it’s also healthy. Who cares, doesn’t matter, let’s not bog Harissa Carrots with Yogurt and Chaat Masala Granola down with labels, K? It’s just crazy delicious and worth making right now.

Harissa Carrots with Yogurt and Chaat Masala Granola

Buttery, roasted, spicy carrots on a shmear of tangy yogurt, topped with a salty, crunchy granola – shouldn’t we be eating like this all the time?

Author: Megan
Prep Time: 6 minutes
Cook Time: 14 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 4 servings 1x
Category: side dish
Method: roasting
Cuisine: Indian/North African

Scale

Ingredients

2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp honey
2 TBS harissa (either in the paste or powdered form)
2 TBS unsalted butter, melted
2 TBS olive oil
salt
1 3/4 lbs carrots, peeled and sliced into long, thin batons
1/2 C cilantro leaves, chopped
a squirt of lemon juice
1 C Greek yogurt
1/2 C Chaat Masala Granola

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 475 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the cumin seeds, honey, harissa, butter, 1 TBS oil, and 3/4 tsp of salt. Add the carrots, toss to coat, and spread onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper – use two baking sheets if one is too crowded.
Roast for 12-14 minutes, until the carrots are brown in some spots.
Stir together the Greek yogurt, 1 TBS olive oil, a squirt of lemon juice, and a pinch of salt.
To serve, spread the yogurt on your plates or on one big serving platter, place carrots on top, sprinkle evenly with Chaat Masala Granola, and top with cilantro.

Notes

The carrot portion of this recipe is from Yotam Ottolenghi’s cookbook Simple.

Chicken in Coconut Milk with Swoodles

This creamy, veggie-loaded, sweet and spicy Chicken in Coconut Milk with Swoodles is a twist on this Brazilian Chicken recipe my mom introduced me to a few years ago. Chicken and I are good buddies, I love it and will eat it every night if you let me. If you add warm spices and coconut milk, I’m there, with bells on, fork in hand.

Much like this peanutty-curry-chicken thing, I’ve made this dish so many times over the years that it’s slowly morphed into almost a completely new thing. I stuck with the original recipe’s spice combo: cayenne, cumin, turmeric, and coriander (from my fave spice shop: mine!). But I chopped up the chicken (bite-sized pieces expedite getting this goodness into my mouth), added a little chicken bullion, brown sugar, and extra veggies (flavor!), and stirred in some swoodles to round it all out (swoodles = spiralized sweet potatoes=💗).

Jalapeno Feta Beer Bread

Anyone else have jalapenos growing like weeds this summer? Me too and daaaaang they are spicy ones. Thankfully, Joey and I are best friends with the creeping heat of a jalapeno. He prefers them dipped in salt, followed by a shot of tequila on a Friday afternoon. I will take them any way I can get them.

For example, in this Jalapeno Feta Beer bread, brimming with salty, cheesy goodness, sweetness from honey, and punctuated with little bursts of spicy heat. Not to mention, the beer adds a nice tang.

Farmer’s Market Vegetable Frittata

Don’t be jealous, but we have one of the best little farm stands here on the OBX. I know you think yours is good too, and it’s true – anyone selling fresh produce straight or straight-ish from the farm is good stuff. But ours is a little blue shack called Tarheel Too Produce, run by the nicest guy named Ed, and I think I got all my veggies for this frittata for like 75 cents. Not really, but his prices are great and the quality is the best. My favorite is when the veggies are small, because I think they’re more flavorful that way, and still covered in dirt. Like, yes, I am eating from the earth, thank you very much.

Balsamic Steak and Apple Salad

Oh man, am I a sucker for a salad. Good salads. Like, reaaaallllly really good ones. This is because, I have a finely tuned Salad Lame-dar which easily detects such disappointing features as wateriness, blandness, and lack of crunch and contrast. Enter, my new sweetheart: Balsamic Steak and Apple Salad. Cannot get enough of this! Thinly sliced, seared flank steak, sauteed apples caramelized with a little brown sugar and balsamic vinegar, tossed with arugula, green onions, funky/salty blue cheese, and pralines… Aggghh! I can’t with this. I love it so much.

steak and apple salad with arugula, blue cheese, and chopped pralines in a green bowl with a fork

Vegetable Samosas

Vegetable Samosas: the result of a hungry prowl around the kitchen. Scratch that – the flaky, spicy, delicious, veggie-packed result of a hungry prowl. Mashed red potatoes, sweet peas that were on the verge of frostbite in my freezer, and spinach. And the requisite (for me) sauteed onions, garlic, ginger, serrano peppers, and spices. (OMG -the spices, you guys… this is the best use of cumin seed I’ve found in a long, long time. We’ll get there in a sec.) The flavors in this recipe are a total win for me but you could really, truly, probably work any vegetables (or meat) into these bewitching little hand pies. Basically, use this recipe as a guide, blend in whatever you have on hand, love yourself, and eat some samosas.

Chicken and Broccoli Bowls with White Wine Pan Sauce

It’s me, back again with the broccoli! I can halfway promise you these broccoli recipes will taper off as we inch towards spring/summer. Maybe. For now, I can’t not share these chicken and broccoli bowls that are SO easy, completely delicious, good for your body, and yep – totally suitable for meal prep!

Roasted Garlic

Is there an easier way to add bulk flavor to your food than squeezing in some soft, caramely, roasted garlic? I think not. It’s my go-to for bumping up the interest in a simple recipe and a day when I have some waiting for me in the fridge is a good day. Make a bunch in advance and arm yourself with maximum tastiness for any situation. Like, a noodle situation, a cassoulet situation, or a chili situation.

Roasted Veggie Bowl

Let’s roast all the things! Let’s coat them all in a creamy tahini dressing! And add some pop and zip with a pomegranate walnut salsa! And, let’s prep it all in advance so this does-a-body-good roasted veggie bowl is ready when you are. Heads up: you will *always* be ready for this. The combo of flavors and textures will light up all those “Oooooo!” areas of your brain in the best way and you’ll soon find yourself addicted to the healthy veggie-ness of it all. Cauliflower, chickpeas, squash, onions, apples… Quick meat-related side note: I add diced, roasted chicken breast to this veggie bowl. It’s in the picture, I’m not hiding it. I love chicken, ok? Let’s move on.

Kale, Butternut Squash, and Pancetta Frittata

The night before last, I had a recipe-fail. It sounded tasty in my head – angel hair pasta with kale and butternut squash, topped with lemon-y parsley bread crumbs and Pecorino Romano. Sounds good, right? Well, it ended up looking and tasting like a ball of yarn. Luckily, this frittata I made last night restored order in the house. Nothing better than a recipe that sounds good and is good, right?