Tag: carrots

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Cumin Roasted Carrots

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I have to admit I was addicted to this recipe for a while last year. Yep, ‘Addictive veggies’, who would have thought? Somehow the way the coarse salt flakes make the cumin taste on those carrots is just beyond description. You have to try it to believe it, but around here, I always make extra so I have leftovers.

And it’s so easy, in fact it only takes 4 ingredients, including the carrots!

I love to bake and roasting is, uhm, almost like baking. Riiight, you’re saying. Well maybe it’s a bit wishful thinking. I have been going sugar and grain free for a while, that sorta limits the baking. One thing you start noticing is your taste buds rejuvenate and become more sensitive. You will be able to taste the natural sweetness in carrots or beets for example, or even milk. It’s quite astonishing how dulled our senses have become to sugar, (read a 1996 study on sugar preference and consumption  between rural and urban population groups in Iraq) apparently the more sugar you eat, the duller your senses become to it and the more you need over time. Works kinda like drugs that way, a  bit scary, ain’t it? But I digress. The roasted carrots are a must try, even if you’re not a big carrot fan, roasting them caramelizes the sugars and renders them sweeter. Part of why roasted carrots have a higher glycemic index than raw or even steamed carrots.

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Ingredients

  • 1 lb Carrots (about), cut into pieces
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 1/2 tsp coarse flake salt (such as french grey sea salt, or fleur du sel)
  • 2 tsp cumin seeds

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 380°F
  2. In a bowl, drizzle the carrot pieces with the 2 tbsp olive oil, and toss to coat. (Trust me, you don’t want to skip this step and just drizzle them on the baking sheet, won’t work, I tried, take it from a cumin roasted carrot addict), then add the cumin seeds.
  3. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (easy clean up makes me happy)
  4. Transfer the carrots to the baking sheet, making sure you scrape out all the cumin seeds. Sprinkle with the salt and place in the preheated oven
  5. Bake for 35-45 minutes, depending on the size of your carrots and the desired softness. (Mine usually are perfect after 40)
What’s your favorite vegetable to roast?

Copyright © 2012 Simple Healthy Homemade. All rights reserved

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Healthy Carrot Cake

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The last couple of days I have been thinking about home (the old home, where I was born and where I used to live) maybe it was brought on by roasting and eating those amazing chestnuts the other day, who can say? Anyway, we have a lot of regional specialties in Switzerland and this recipe pays homage to a Carrot Cake from the region of Aargau, and juuust in case any of you are into linguistics, the name of the dish I am going after is ‘Aargauer Rüebli Torte’. In my recipe, there is no butter or oil in the cake batter, there is limited amount of sugar compared to most regular muffin or cake recipes, hardly any flour and it can be made gluten free. It’s moist crumb is achieved without the addition of fat, in fact the only fat in it, comes from the egg yolks and the ground almonds used. Still it’s cake, it’s a desert and should be enjoyed as such, in moderation 😉 Not saying this would be a good idea, but it’s quite a way to sneak some veggies past certain people called kids 🙂

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For simplicity reasons, you can also make muffins (simplicity, because you don’t have to try to come up with believable stories on where the missing piece of cake went 😉

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Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp sugar
  • 5 organic eggs, seperated
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 2 tbsp warm water
  • 1/2 lemon peel
  • 1 lb carrots
  • 2 cups ground almonds, natural, not blanched (also known as almond flour)
  • 1/8 tsp allspice
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp flour (use oat flour to make it gluten free)
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder

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egg yolks , and sugar: looking dark yellow to start…


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…and light in color after stirring

Directions

  1. Mix first four ingredients in a bowl and stir until light in color and airy
  2. add lemon peel
  3. Shred the carrots on the fine side of a grater into the egg mixture
  4. add the cinnamon and allspice, stir to combine
  5. in a separate bowl, beat the egg whites  until soft peaks form, add on top of the mix
  6. sprinkle the ground almonds on top
  7. sift flour and baking powder over top and gently incorporate the almonds, egg whites and flour.
  8. Fill into prepares 8″ spring form pan ( or grease muffin cups, you can use paper liners, only bake 25 minutes) and bake at 350 F for 50 minutes, or until tester comes out clean.
  9. After cooled completely, coat top of cake with sifted confectioners sugar, and marzipan carrots. Or make a white glaze by mixing  1tbsp lemon juice, 1-2 tbsp water and 1 1/2 cups of confectioners sugar until mixture coats back of spoon evenly. Spread over entire top and sides of cake.

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By the way: My boyfriend, who was very adamant about not liking carrot cake, never having liked carrot cake, finally agreed to try a tiny piece, after my: ‘this is not your typical extremely sweet american carrot cake, just saying. But, alright, more for me!’ Well, he revised his opinion, in his own words: ‘OMG, this is delicious!’

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Copyright © 2011 Simple Healthy Homemade. All rights reserved.