Roasted Cumin Carrots with Creamy Turmeric Sauce
Hello everyone!
Welcome to day 3 of the “My Green Diet Challenge” – I have been loving this challenge, particularly the beautiful community of people that are all on this journey to increased health together!
Luckily this isn’t such a drastic change for me personally as my family and I eat very healthily - focusing on wholefoods most of the time – but it has afforded me the opportunity to refine some health goals and to let go of some things I’ve wanted to let go of for a while now but I simply haven’t had the push. Things like boxed soy milk, tinned or ready made food items that have heaps of E-numbers in them! and other processed food items. For a while now I have wanted to get back to increasing my vegetable intake daily and this was the perfect opportunity to do just that.
What have I experienced so far? I have loved increasing my vegetable intake of late – I always feel so good when I eat heaps of fruit and vegetables in the day. I was becoming quite comfortable with the “avo toast” lunches with a small side salad. But now, I’ve been expanding my vegetable variety and quantity, ensuring that even the everyday business is not enough to deter me from getting those rainbow-colored veg in. I have also decreased my intake of soy sauce, which was one of my goals as I was becoming quite dependent on it to make my meals flavorsome and delicious. My energy has increased and I overall feel a lot better – it’s probably a combination of the mental aspect as well as the physical aspect.
How are you all feeling? I would love to hear from you in the comments below or in an email! For those of you that have only heard of the challenge now – it’s not too late to join! You will just finish your 30 days a little later than those that started on the 1st of October. There is a wonderful Facebook support group too which is a great place to share meal/recipe ideas and to feel inspired and encouraged by others participating in the challenge. It’s also a great space for asking Jessica any of your burning dietary questions! The Facebook group is called: My Green Body Challenge Support for those of you that would like to join.
NOW, to the recipe! These are the long awaited roasted cumin carrots with creamy turmeric sauce that I paired with my Spicy Thai Coconut Chickpeas (recipe here: https://www.thehealingroot.com/recipes-3/yz33a9ej695axrkpw8wgmnxz2gkd68) and some brown rice. What a delicious combo that was!
Ingredients for the Carrots:
· 8 medium-large carrots
· ½-1 teaspoon ground cumin
· splash of water to steam (in lieu of oil for roasting)
· Salt and Pepper
· Fresh/Dried Thyme (optional)
Ingredients for Creamy Turmeric Sauce:
· 3 tablespoons of tahini
· 2.5 tablespoons of water
· 1/5 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
· 1-1.5 tablespoons soy sauce
· ¼ teaspoon of ground cumin
· 1 heaped ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
Method:
1. Put the oven on to 180 degrees Celsius or 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Wash your carrots and place on a baking tray. Put a splash of water in the baking tray (about ¼ cup). This will ensure the carrots don’t simply dry out – it is being used instead of oil to help steam the carrots and keep them moist during the cooking process. Sprinkle the ground cumin, thyme (if using) salt and pepper over the carrots. Place into the oven and bake for around 40 minutes. This time will vary according to: the size and thickness of the carrots, how crunchy/cooked you like them (personally I like them still with a bit of crunch) and your oven. So perhaps set your timer for 30 minutes and check in then to see if you would like them to cook more or not.
3. While they are cooking, prepare your sauce. This is a really easy throw-together sauce that is tangy, creamy, salty and HEALING. It’s fantastic on these carrots but is so versatile in its’ uses (think sandwiches, steamed veg, rice, pasta etc.). Put the tahini in a small bowl, followed by the water. Mix well. Then add in all of the other ingredients and continue to stir until all is well combined (it might look clumpy and strange in the beginning, but keep mixing and it with smooth out). Now it’s time to taste and adjust according to your individual palette – after all, you will be tucking into the carrots not me! Perhaps you like it a bit saltier, in which case you can add more soy sauce or a touch more salt. Perhaps you like it a bit tangier, in which case add some more apple cider vinegar etc.
4. Once the carrots have cooked, take them out of the oven and let them cook just a bit before dousing them in the creamy, delicious turmeric sauce you created.
5. ENJOY!
