Happy root vegetable Mondaaaaaaaaaay!…
Have a bouquet of carrots!
IIIIII know…In the bustling metropolis of the root vegetable kingdom, carrots aren’t the most adventurous. They would be the type of root that sits at home and plays Sudoku, not the kind that goes skydiving over an erupting volcano.
BUT you know what I say to that? There ain’t nothing wrong with Sudoku.
Plus, rainbow carrots were on sale at the Whole Foods.
Plus, plus, look at how pretty they are!:
In spite of the carrot being arguably the most commonly used root vegetable intheentireworld, I haven’t given it a whole lot of attention on my blog. Mostly because we’re all so familiar with carrots, that there isn’t very much edjumukation I can provide that you don’t already know.
Buuuut haste:
Have you ever tasted the rainbow… carrot?
Turns out, a carrot is not a carrot is not a carrot. Meaning, these multicolor roots may all be of the carrot name, but they’re not all the same.
It’s not just the color that distinguishes these carrots from one another, as they also tote around unique health benefits. Puh-retty cool if you ask me. As we all know, orange carrots are packed with Vitamins A and C. Check it: the purple carrots contain anthocyanins as well as slightly more vitamin A than the orange.
The red variety (which didn’t come in my bag), have lycopene, which lowers your risk of certain cancers, specifically prostate cancer. Yellow carrots have Xanthophykks and lutein which are great for your eyes and also help prevent cancer. White carrots? Yeeeah, they don’t have many notable health benefits, although they do have the benefit of fiber going for them.
How do rainbow carrots taste, you ask? They all taste like regular ol’ orange carrots. ALTHOUGH, the purple variety seems slightly sweeter and firmer than the others, with a bit of a peppery flavor. The main bullet point here, is that you can pick up a bag of rainbows with the expectation that none of the flavors will taste weird or different from what you’re used to. They’re predictably tasty.
These easy and flavorful roasted carrots are a great side dish to go along just about any entrée, and would be the perfect addition to your Thanksgiving or Christmas feast. It’s an easy dish to whip up quickly in bulk and is seasoned with all sorts of warm flavors.
It’s totally cool to play Sudoku with roasted carrots. < – Just roll with it.
Rosemary and Cumin Roasted Carrots
Ingredients
- 2 pounds carrots assorted colors
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Wash the carrots and pat them.
- Slice carrots diagonally (you can peel them first if you’d like. I left the peel on) and place in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and using your hands, toss everything together until all of the carrots are coated.
- Spread the sliced carrots over one large baking sheet (or two small), and roast in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until carrots are golden-brown and softened. Stir the carrots with a spatula once half-way through the roasting process.
- Serve roasted carrots with your favorite entrée.
I absolutely am thrilled to have stumbled across this post! The recipe and the photos are so inspiring- and I intend to roast the rainbow carrots alongside the rainbow baby potatoes I have on hand today. I love root veggies – and cumin and cinnamon sound so yummy. Thank you- and thanks for the link from Susannah Conway that led me here. My gratitude is bountiful today
Pam, you’re so sweet! I’m so happy you’re excited to try the recipe! I hope you love it, and feel free to let me know what you think once it comes out of the oven! xoxo
I actually have some purple carrots in the fridge that I decided against doing what I thought I was going to do with them. So rosemary cumin roasting it is!
Also, if I had a carrot bouquet at my wedding, would that be weird?
Oh my goodness! These carrots are gorgeous! I have been craving roasted carrots this fall. Can’t wait to try these!
Aren’t they good lookin? I almost felt bad roasting them in the oven because they were sitting all pretty-like in my fridge. Let me know if you give the recipe a try! It’s super tasty!
SO pretty! My rainbow carrots this year turned out to be more like mini-carrots, but maybe I’ll just have to go crazy and buy some in order to make this 🙂 I never would have thought to combine rosemary and cumin — genius. Thanks for sharing!
Well carrots just fit with my personality perfectly then 🙂 Also, roasted carrots are pretty hard to beat. Loving all the colors here, not to mention the cumin + rosemary combo!
Purdy, aren’t they?! So glad you’re on board with the rosemary-cumin. I never would have thought they go together, but all the flavors worked out super well. The cinnamon and maple does wonders for the carrots, too! 😀
Rainbow carrots are the purdiest of all the carrots. I always say yes to cumin. Now, hand over that delicious bouquet.
MMMhmmm! Rainbow carrot lovers, unite! I’m now of the opinion that men should ditch the roses and bring us bouquets of rainbow carrots. 😀
Those carrots & your pics are just gorgeous! I love roasted veggies w/ rosemary, but I’ve never had them with cumin and cinnamon. It sounds like a lovely variation. Thanks for the tip! Pinning this one!
Interesting combination of flavors, no? I wasn’t sure whether or not it would work out and was so pleasantly surprised by the marriage of flavors. Hope you try the recipe and enjoy, Heather!
They always have lovely rainbow carrots in the store I go to. This looks like an awesome recipe to utilize them!!
I wish my local grocery store had a continual stock of rainbows. I’ve been seeing them a lot lately, but it hasn’t been until this season that they’ve been popping up all over. Hopefully the rainbows are here to stay!
I’m in LOVE with rainbow carrots! I just made a chicken noodle soup with them the other day and it was the most colorful soup ever 🙂 These roasted carrots look fabulous – especially with cumin and rosemary which are two of my all time favorites. LOVE <3
Carrots are the only veggie other than Brussels sprouts that Josh will reliably eat. –> WHAT IS WRONG WITH HIM!? <– They don't often have rainbow carrots in the store near me, but they look like so much fun. I love that the purple ones have yellow centers! Deliciousness of carrots aside, cumin is one of my favorite things. Carrots + cumin = natural winner, in my book!
Haha! Brussels and carrots…gotta love it! Although the recipe is so purdy with all the colors, I bet Josh would give you some serious doe eyes if you made the recipe using all orange ones. It’s seriously a tasty treat!
I actually just bought a big bunch of colored carrots and roasted them with thyme last week! I loved how beautiful they were! This sounds good with the rosemary, too!
Yeeeeah! Rainbow carrots are lots of fun. Can’t go wrong with a nice fresh and dry herb combo and a little good ol’ fashioned roasting. Cheers to tasting the rainbow 😉