When you want a meal of tapas dishes but also want to eat healthy, these oven roasted carrots with spiced yogurt are a beautiful and delicious choice!
Although I’m generally a healthy eater, I do have times when I am both more and less so. For example, during the holidays, I didn’t stick to my no desserts on weekdays rule. I enjoyed extra indulgences, whether it be an extra glass of wine or a couple cookies. I know that these aren’t big indulgences, but they are changes from my normal eating habits.
Thus, like many people I am starting January with a greater focus on healthy eating. However, I am not willing to abandon Tapas Mondays. It’s one of the best things about the start of the workweek; it needs to stay. To keep on my healthier eating course, I simply keep the menus leaning toward healthy. There are no ultra cheesy dishes served with homemade bread.
Doesn’t that mean that it’s boring?
The answer is a resounding NO. Healthy eating can be delicious; you just need to think about the ingredients you use and the way you cook.
If I told you that I was serving carrots as a tapas dish, you’d probably think it was a boring dish. Carrots- they don’t present as an exciting food. But if you cook them properly and add flavorful ingredients, you get a dish that is worthy of a tapas menu.
How to transform carrots
The first and most important step in cooking carrots, and most vegetables for that matter, is the method. Boiling or steaming carrots does nothing more than tenderize them and, most likely, lose some of their flavor. If you roast them, with just a little bit of olive oil, you get tender carrots that have had their flavors amplified.
The next thing to consider is what to add to the carrots. When you think about vegetable side dishes served at elaborate meals, they usually have some sort of sauce. This is where my friend, Greek yogurt, gets to join the party. Greek yogurt adds a lot of creaminess without adding a lot of fat or calories. Add some seasoning, and you have a terrific base for your carrots.
Then think about presentation, not just how it will look but what its taste and texture are. With a drizzle of honey and a sprinkle of chopped peanuts, you have added sweet, salty, and crunch. If that isn’t a combination that pleases, I don’t know what is.
How to serve this
I used these Roasted Carrots with Spiced Yogurt as one dish in our first Tapas Monday in 2021. I accompanied it with Sautéed Mushrooms with Quail Egg and some homemade lavash chips.
See? With a little creativity and a tiny bit of effort in the kitchen you can have a tapas dinner that is healthy and tasty as well.
Roasted Carrots with Spiced Yogurt
Ingredients
- 1 pound full-sized carrots
- 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt & pepper
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- Honey
- 3 tablespoons chopped lightly salted peanuts
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 400°F.
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Remove greens from carrots, peel, and slice in half widthwise.
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Then cut each half into evenly sized slices lengthwise, about 1/2” x 1/2”.
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Place carrots on rimmed baking sheet, and top with olive oil.
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Toss to coat, and spread out on pan, so carrots aren’t touching.
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Season with salt and pepper.
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Roast for 10 minutes.
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Flip, and roast for another 10 minutes.
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While carrots roast, combine yogurt, chili powder, cumin, and a sprinkle of salt.
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Remove carrots from oven.
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Divide yogurt mixture between four plates, spreading as the bottom layer.
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Divide carrots among the four plates.
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Drizzle carrots with honey, and then sprinkle with peanuts.
