Roasted Carrots and Shallots with Chermoula from @MysteryMacRae

 

 

Roasted carrots? So good. Add roasted shallots and the garlicky herb sauce called chermoula and you have a dish that can be a side or what I call a side-by-side—a whole meal made of two complimentary and satisfying sides.

Chermoula was new to my family when we discovered this recipe, and now we love it. It’s traditionally used in Algerian, Libyan, Moroccan, and Tunisian cooking to flavor fish or seafood dishes.

Roasted Carrots and Shallots with Chermoula (adapted from The Complete Plant-based Cookbook from America’s Test Kitchen)

 

Ingredients for Carrots

1 ½ pounds carrots, peeled and halved lengthwise (choose carrots that are about 1 1/2-inches in diameter at the thicker end. If your carrots are smaller, leave them whole. If they’re bigger, roast them a little longer)

4 large shallots, peeled and halved through the root end

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (or refined coconut oil)

½ teaspoon table salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons coarsely chopped, toasted pine nuts

 

Ingredients for Chermoula

¾ cup fresh cilantro leaves

2 tablespoons lemon juice

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 serrano chili, stemmed, seeded, and minced (or a jalapeño)

½ teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon table salt

⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper

¼ cup olive oil

Directions

For the carrots

Adjust oven rack to lowest position (this guarantees tender, sweet carrots with their undersides beautifully caramelized. Heat oven to 450 ℉. Toss carrots, shallots, melted butter, salt, and pepper together in a bowl to thoroughly coat. Spread carrot-shallot mixture in even layer on rimmed baking sheet, cut sides down. Roast until tender and cut sides are well browned, 15 to 25 minutes.

For the Chermoula

Process cilantro, lemon juice, garlic, serrano, cumin, salt, and cayenne in food processor until finely chopped, about 1 minute, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. With processor running, slowly add oil until incorporated. Transfer to a small bowl.

To finish

Transfer carrots and shallots to serving dish and season with salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle with chermoula and sprinkle with pine nuts.

 

We have the carrots in a lovely side-by-side with the herb pistachio couscous that you see in the picture. You’ll find the recipe for that wonderful dish here.

 

 

The Boston Globe says Molly MacRae writes “murder with a dose of drollery.” She’s the author of the award-winning, national bestselling Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries and the Highland Bookshop Mysteries. As Margaret Welch, she writes books for Annie’s Fiction. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and she’s a winner of the Sherwood Anderson Award for Short Fiction. Visit Molly on Facebook and Pinterest and connect with her on Twitter  or Instagram.