Tuesday, June 5, 2012

{ Roasted Spring Carrots with Cumin Scented Pistachios }



Hubby and I celebrated my birthday in wine country this weekend. We had the most marvelous time. Full of drinking great wine, eating divine food, shopping at darling boutiques and relaxing at the most magnificent hotel we have ever stayed at. A perfect birthday weekend for sure. I am excited to share some wonderful details and photos of our wine country adventures in upcoming posts.


I actually created this little gem of a recipe last weekend after a visit to our local farmers market. These colorful carrots just stood out at the one of the booths – the vibrant purple and orange is just stunning. I certainly wish they were available year round, but on that note, they are not, so I must take advantage of them now – carpe diem!


Roasting alone with a bit of salt and pepper and great quality olive oil is actually quite perfect by itself. However, adding some additional flavor and texture just raises the flavor profiles and brings it to the next level of wonderful-ness!


Pistachios are one of my favorite nuts and often under used in my house. Often I will snack on these beauties yet rarely cooking with them. The flavor and texture just blended so well with the roasted carrots and the marriage of these items occurred. Hubby is not the biggest fan of pistachios and he loved this dish. Enjoy!!


Roasted Spring Carrots with Cumin Scented Pistachios

Serves four

12 to 16 Carrots
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Peel and trim carrots. Slice or dice into bite size pieces. Place onto a large baking dish or pan. Drizzle with olive oil to well coat all carrots. Season with salt and pepper and toss well. Roast for 35 to 45 minutes at 350 degrees or until tender.

Cumin Scented Pistachios

½ Cup Pistachios, shelled
1 T. Butter
1 t. Cumin
1 pinch cayenne pepper
½ t. Salt
2 t. Brown sugar

Over medium heat, add butter to a medium skillet and melt. Then add the brown sugar, cumin, cayenne and salt and mix. Toss in the pistachios and stir until all are coated. Stirring frequently, cook until they begin to caramelize slightly for about 5 minutes or less. Remove from heat and let cool, then rough chop and sprinkle over the carrots.

16 comments:

  1. What a fantastic birthday celebration! I love carrots and the way roasting intensifies their sweetness. The cumin pistachios sound like the perfect topping!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Now that's the way to celebrate your birthday! How fun - wish I had been doing that last weekend ;) Those carrots are stunning, cumin and pistachios, mmm .

    ReplyDelete
  3. Such beautiful carrots - I don't get many purple carrots around these parts, but if I did, I would snatch them up because they are delightful to look at! I often pair carrots with cumin, but have never thought of pistachios. I'll have to try it next time!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Those are delicious looking carrots as well as pistachios, Lisa! By the way Happy Belated Birthday!!!!! Can't wait to see your next post!
    Enjoy your day!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Happy Belated Birthday! It sounds like the ideal way to celebrate!
    I am so with you on the love of pistachios, and do not utilize them enough in my dishes. But this recipe is a pure delight! And I adore heirloom carrots, such beauties!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Happy belated Birthday Lisa! the weekend sound wonderful and so does this dish. Last weekend was the first time I found purple carrots at the local market. Love the addition of the cumin. So flavorful

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a clever, clever way to liven up otherwise plain carrots and pistachios! Cumin is one of the spices I usually like to put in my veggies, so this totally works for me! And pistachios...yum, pistachios...the greenest, grandest of tree nuts...together, the carrots and pistachios are WOW!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sounds like you celebrated your special day in style;-)
    Carrots are my favorite veggie so I appreciate the way you've prepared them, especially love the cumin;-) Pinned!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Happy Birthday, Lisa! I'm so glad you had a weekend long celebration :) I want these carrots on my dinner table tomorrow - they will go perfectly with the pork I am marinating!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Again, Happy Birthday! It sounds like you had an awesome time. I look forward to your wine country report! I know I'll enjoy it.

    These carrots look so pretty and they will be irresistible if I see them in farmer's market. I love how you cooked them with pistachios. I love cumin but never used it this way. Very inspiring dish, Lisa!

    ReplyDelete
  11. A birthday in wine country sounds perfect...as does this dish! I snack on pistachios a lot, but rarely put them into something more prepared. This is definite inspiration to start! Happy belated :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Happy Birthday Lisa! The carrots look amazing. I love how you spiced the pistachios and added them to the carrots. Thanks for sharing, I'll be bookmarking this one:)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Great idea! And those carrots are so lovely!

    ReplyDelete
  14. What a great dish, Lisa. I can imagine the complementary textures and flavors of the carrots and the pistachios. This is inspired!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I have never imagined these ingredients together before, what a beautiful idea!

    ReplyDelete

It simply makes me smile when I receive a new comment and I look forward to hearing from you!

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.