Roasted carrots and avocado salad
Do you know how to give carrots extra flavor? First boil them in water and then roast them in the oven, covered with a layer of fragrant herbs and spices. This is the world of Jean-Georges Vongerichten, world-class celebrity chef. I discovered his cuisine during a recent city trip to The Big Apple and have been one of his big fans ever since.
A unique kitchen
I already told you all about the world of Jean-Georges Vongerichten in my blog. His unique cuisine was shaped by his extraordinary experiences in the best restaurants all over the world. He combines, with knowledge and passion, ingredients from Asia with local products from the West. He steps away from the traditional use of meat broths and cream sauces and replaces them with light vegetable broths and herb vinaigrettes. For intense flavors and textures, he turns to vegetable juices and fruit essences.
It is this culinary vision that I found on my plate during lunch at ABC Kitchen. With a dose of research and luck, I found the recipe for this delicious salad in his cookbook Home Cooking with Jean-Georges. Believe me, once you taste the carrots, you will make them again and again.
Ingredients
For the roasted carrots
- 1 bunch young carrots
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 4 sprigs thyme
- ¼ teaspoon chili flakes
- 1 tablespoon wine vinegar
- 100 ml olive oil
- 1 ½ oranges
- 2 lemons
- Freshly ground black pepper and sea salt to taste
For the salad
- 1 preparation roasted carrots
- 1 tablespoon sunflower seeds
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 1 avocado
- 75 g young mixed lettuce (radish, lettuce, beet, etc.)
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- Some edible flowers
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Preparation
Step 1: roast the carrots
Heat your oven to 175°C. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Wash the carrots and cook them al dente. You can scrape the carrots, but you don't have to. Drain them in a colander and pat dry with kitchen roll.
Meanwhile, make a fragrant spice paste. Pick the leaves off the sprigs of thyme. Add those, the garlic, cumin seeds, chili flakes, wine vinegar and 60 ml of olive oil in a blender. Pulse to a paste and season with salt and pepper.
Time to roast. To do this, you first line a baking dish with baking paper. Then spread the carrots on the dish in a single layer. Using a brush, rub the spice paste onto the carrots. Make sure each carrot has a fine layer of spice. Now cut the oranges and lemons in half. Place 2 half oranges and 2 half lemons on the carrots with the cut side down. Roast in the oven for 25 to 35 minutes. The carrots should be a golden-brown color. Place them on a tray to cool.
Time to make a vinaigrette. To do this, squeeze 2 tablespoons of juice from the roasted orange, 2 tablespoons from the roasted lemons, 2 tablespoons from the remaining half orange and 2 tablespoons from the remaining lemon. Pour all the juice into a small mixing bowl and whisk in the remaining olive oil until you obtain an emulsion. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Drizzle some of the vinaigrette over the carrots and set the rest aside.
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Step 2: assemble the salad
Your oven is still at 175°C.
First mix your sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds and then spread them out in a thin layer on a baking dish. Toast the seeds until they turn a golden color. This takes about 7 minutes. Be careful not to toast them brown as the seeds will be bitter. Let them cool.
Now peel the avocado, remove the stone and cut the flesh into slices.
Arrange the carrots along with the avocado and green leaves on a platter. Drizzle the citrus vinaigrette over the top. Spoon the sour cream on the vegetables and sprinkle the toasted seeds over the carrots and greens. Finish the dish with a few edible flowers.
You can also serve the dish on individual plates.
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