Easter 2018 - Buffet Brunch for a large crowd

Carrots cut smaller and roasted off earlier in the morning, waiting until it is time to assemble the dish just before brunch time

Here's an easy way to elevate your carrot dish. Simply roasted carrots dressed up with some fresh parsley, mint, lemon yogurt sauce and feta - an excellent side dish or vegetarian dish (I would add some toasted pumpkin or sunflower seeds if a vegetarian main). An extra bonus is that the carrots can be room temperature which eases the "having everything ready (and hot) at the same time" part of cooking a meal - It would be excellent as a BBQ side to add some light freshness in contrast to grilled meats. Another reason I love this recipe is that it is so easy to scale up for a larger group - just get whatever amount of carrots you think would be good for your group and scale the rest up accordingly. If you need to, split the carrots across 2 baking sheets so they are not too crowded. The sauce is even delicious on raw carrots!

April 4 2018 - We just served this dish over the weekend at the the Easter egg hunt and brunch we hosted for our neighbors up at our place in the Catskills and were so please with how it turned out! This time I cut the large carrots into smaller long pieces (see photo) so that there were a better serving size for the larger group and I liked it even more than keeping the carrots their full length. It will be my go to method from now on. I would now recommend this dish even more whole heartedly (if that was possible) for a delightful side dish to any meal. You can make the sauce hours ahead of time, you can prep the carrots the day before, it can be served with the carrots at room temperature so they can be roasted off earlier in the day and left on the counter until you are ready to assemble. So it is a really tasty dish that is a breeze to pull together and you don't have to worry about keeping it warm. Oh, and it presents beautifully. What more can you want from a recipe?

Easter 2016 - sit down meal for 6 people

Roasted Carrots with Parsley Mint Yogurt Sauce

Martha Stewart Living recipe published in the April 2016 issue with my added notes and photos.

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds thin carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise if thick
1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley, plus optional whole leaves for serving
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh mint, plus optional whole small leaves/chopped larger leaves for serving
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese (optional)
Extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse salt

Shopping notes: You should buy carrots with their tops still on, they will be sweeter. Look for pretty bunches for a pretty end result! Also, most of the nutrition in carrots is closest to the outer edges. If you by baby carrots, you loose a lot of that.

Directions

Carrots

Preheat oven to 450°F.

On a rimmed baking sheet, toss carrots with olive oil to coat and season with salt. Roast carrots, until tender and beginning to brown slightly, about 20 - 25 minutes. Flip carrots once in the middle of roasting. Let cool.

Sauce

Process 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1/3 cup chopped parsley, 2 tablespoons chopped mint, 2 teaspoons lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to a fine paste in a food processor. Add yogurt and puree. The sauce will be luscious in texture and the color will exclaim spring and summer.

Serving

Spread some of the yogurt sauce on the a platter, place carrots on top of the sauce. Sprinkle with feta if desired, but the dish is really great even without it. If you wish, drizzle with a little more olive oil (I don't think this is necessary). If you saved any small fresh parsley and/or mint leaves, sprinkle them on top. Put some of the yogurt sauce in a small condiment bowl with a little spoon so your guests can add more sauce to their carrots right on their plate. Serve!

Recipes

ROASTED CARROTS WITH PARSLEY MINT YOGURT SAUCE