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Food for Thought Friday: spiced carrot dip (or side dish) recipe 🥕
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Hello friend,
Lately I’ve been craving new flavors, and one of my favorite places to find them is THE ARCHIVES, ie, old recipes that I used to make a lot but haven’t tasted in a while!
So here’s a good one that I’ve been thinking about making for several weeks… and don't think I've ever published in this newsletter! Also sending this to YOU as a way to inspire myself to finally make it this weekend...
Spiced Carrot Caraway Dip!
My mom and I originally got a recipe like this at the DC Dupont Farmers Market, and later recreated it from memory. It’s always a huge hit at parties, and also great to keep in your fridge and snack on all week (like I plan to do). Caraway seeds are a unique flavor, and the ingredient that makes this dish really special and different! They are often found in rye bread, so you may recognize the flavor. That said, if you don't have them, you could certainly make this recipe without - or if you have them, use coriander seeds instead. It will change the dish, but it will still be tasty.
Instead of blending into a dip, you could also dice the carrots smaller/more uniform before roasting and then toss with the feta/mint/caraway afterwards to serve as a side dish!
Recipe below the photos. Happy dipping!
Love,
Jess
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Spiced Carrot Caraway Dip
takes 50 minutes, serves 10 as an appetizer
Ingredients:
- 6-8 large carrots (about 2 lbs)
- 1 lemon
- about 1/2 cup or 3 oz crumbled feta cheese
- small bunch fresh mint (or sub another fresh herb; cilantro or parsley would be my next choices)
- 2 Tbsp caraway seeds
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground coriander (optional)
- 1 clove garlic
- olive oil, salt + pepper
- crispy crackers, bread, and/or endive/crudite to serve/snack with
Special equipment: immersion blender (my preference) or food processor recommended; If you don't have one of these two, you can also cut the carrots smaller before roasting (they'll roast faster) and after roasting, mash with a wooden spoon/fork. This requires more elbow grease and the end result may be a bit chunkier but could also work!
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 400. Line a sheet tray with parchment if you have it. Wash and scrub carrots thoroughly and dry with a towel. Trim ends, wasting as little as possible. Cut carrots roughly into chunks or in half. Place on sheet tray, then top with 1-2 T olive oil, about 1/2 tsp salt, some black pepper, and a heaping 1 tsp each of cinnamon, cumin, and coriander. Toss thoroughly on the tray until evenly coated and glistening. Roast for 25-40 minutes. At 25 mins start checking every 10 minutes until carrots are just fork tender. That's ok if some are softer.
- While carrots are baking, mince garlic clove and place in a large bowl (or food processor if using that). Squeeze half the lemon into the bowl and stir so it coats the garlic (this helps mellow out the garlic). Toast 2T caraway seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat until just fragrant, stirring constantly, just a few minutes. Remove from heat and place in a separate small bowl (if you leave in the hot pan they'll continue to toast).
- If it's dirty, wash and dry the mint (otherwise I usually don't bother to wash it). Remove leaves and if they're very large, tear or chop in half.
- When the carrots are done, allow to cool for about 5-10 minutes. Then place in the bowl (or food processor) with the lemon and garlic. Mash/blend in short pulses with an immersion blender (or pulse in food processor) until you have a consistently mashed/dip-able texture but NOT a smooth puree - this should happen naturally since the carrots are just fork-tender, not super soft. It should be pretty thick and you'll likely want to add some olive oil to help you blend it.
- Taste and adjust salt, pepper, olive oil, and lemon juice - be sure to remember that you're adding salty feta on top, so you probably want to keep the carrots a little less-salted than usual.
- Fold in the toasted caraway seeds. If serving for a party, place dip into your serving bowl - a wider/shallow bowl is nice. Sprinkle/crumble feta all over the top. Drizzle with a olive oil and top with mint.
- Serve with bread, crackers and/or crudite if you like (if doing crudite, I especially like endive leaves.)
- If keeping for yourself, eat some now, then store in the fridge for up to 3-5 days! Enjoy!
Carrot roasting details:
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All photos are taken by me and recipes written by me, unless otherwise noted.
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In case you missed out, here are a few past issues to check out:
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Hi, I'm Jess! I help health-conscious, busy people transform their cooking from chore to lifestyle through intuitive cooking, which I teach through online classes, free content, coaching and more. This is my newsletter, Food for Thought Fridays, where I share highly actionable tips and inspiration to help you cook more intuitively (which makes cooking feel easier and SO much more fun!). Once a month, I share a recipe that's really worth making, and I only share those with my email subscribers. Sometimes the text above may include affiliate links, meaning (at no additional cost to you) I get a commission if you click through and make a purchase. This helps me to continue to share free content, so I would love it if you buy through my link! Thank you for supporting Garlic Press Jess!
I currently work + live on land that is the unceded territory of the Ramaytush Ohlone. And I can't wait to eat at Cafe Ohlone! Check out this article about them.
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