Roasted Carrot Hummus
For my Thursday “Let Me Be Frank” lunch live, I did a “spring fresh trio”which included this savory sweet Roasted Carrot Hummus. Along with it I did a quick-pickled Cucumber and an old classic favorite of mine; warm veggie roll-ups all nestled on a bed of citrus-dressed dandelion greens.
The Roasted Carrot Hummus dish can be made vegan or not and up to a day ahead; just depends on your preference, time and needs. I have made several variations to this recipe, however the recipe that initially caught my eye was on the Joanne Weir website for CreateTV and I adapted it for my taste.
You can watch past @FoodTokTV LIVE’s on our Youtube channel here
Roasted Carrot Hummus
Makes about 1 1/4 cups
Super easy appetizer, budget friendly dish that can stand alone or as a filling for sandwiches, flatbreads. Depending on your equipment and how you long you process it, will determine the texture. A food processor will you you a smooth but course spread while a some of the newer juicer machines high powered blenders like the Ninja will make it more smooth. Purely to taste
Ingredients
2 lbs Carrots (use the whole ones, wash and dry but no need to peel)
2-4 cloves Garlic (separated and peeled)
2-3 inch fresh Ginger peeled (to taste or use dried ginger power aprx 1 teaspoons to start)
1 tbsp Honey or Agave
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp toasted and ground Cardamom
1 tsp toasted Cumin
1 tsp light Brown Sugar (Optional, you can use Agave or other fruit juices for sweetness)
1-2 tbsp Tahini (sesame paste) (In a pinch, peanut butter or almond butter will work too I bet), well stirred. You can add more to taste.)
1/4 tsp Crushed Red Pepper (Optional)
1 Lemon, zest and juice
Salt & Pepper to taste
2-4 tbsp water
Sesame Oil
Instructions
Heat up the oven to 375°F.
Toast the cardamom pods and cumin in a dry pan and grind to powder form. If using powered, still toast for a few seconds. You can also toss in sesame seeds to roast here as well (optional)
Cut the carrots into 2-3” pieces, along with the peeled ginger and garlic cloves on a foiled covered sheet pan (note: have a spare sweet potato? Add that in too)
Sprinkle salt & pepper, the toasted and ground cardamon, cumin, oil and honey. Toss together. (I wanted a bit of a char on them so didn’t cover them, but if you wrap them up and seal the edges so the steam doesn’t escape. you will get a more mellow taste)
Roast in the oven on the middle or lower rack until tender, 20 minutes. Stir and continue to roast for 20 minutes. They should be just tender not mushy. (Hint: you can par cook the carrots in a bowl in the microwave for with some water 18-20 min, drain and cool up to a day ahead. Then move to a foil pan and roast for 20 min in the oven when ready to make)
Remove foil packet from the oven, gently scrap the bottom of the packet and move the vegetables around so they loosen and cool completely.
Pour the entire packet of carrots, ginger, garlic, seasonings and oil into a food processor with the remaining ingredients (except for the water and lemon juice).
Pulse and process until rough/smooth spread, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Add lemon zest
drizzle in sesame oil, water or lemon juice as needed to make the dip the consistency of hummus.
Taste and adjust for more seasoning with salt, pepper, cumin, sesame oil and lemon juice to taste. This is also when you can add more honey, spices etc.
It will be ready to eat then, or store at room temp for using within an hour otherwise keep cold. Take out about 20 min before serving. Mix and place in a bowl.
Serve with an assortment of chips, sliced veggies etc
Extras: You can drizzle on any good quality flavored oils like Lemon, Blood Orange or Chili as a great finish
