MVK Savory Roasted Carrots

Look - a real CSA post!!! We've been getting some AMAZING veggies from our wonderful CSA out of Christopher Farm. As it's very early in the growing season, we've gotten mostly greens. However, we've also gotten a ton of carrots due to the hoop houses at the farm. We eat carrots in soups and in salads, but that hasn't been enough to eat through the carrots. I was talking to my sister about this the other day and she gave me a great idea.

Recently, my sister started working at a restaurant called Mill Valley Kitchen. She is really enjoying the way the restaurant engages with and thinks about food. When I mentioned all of our carrots, she said that I could try to make something on the menu there: carrots marinated in a savory marinade and then roasted quickly in their wood fired pizza oven. I have never eaten these carrots and I certainly don't have a wood fired pizza oven, but I figured I'd give it a go. I am so glad I did, because these carrots were ridiculously delicious. Even if you don't like cooked carrots, you will like these (says Shana). Seriously, eat them now.

MVK Savory Roasted Carrots
Inspired by a recipe I've never tried at Mill Valley Kitchen in St. Louis Park, MN.

Ingredients
1 lb. carrots
1/4 c. toasted sesame oil
1/2 c. low-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp. sriracha
toasted sesame seeds

Directions
1. Trim the ends off your carrots and cut them into match-stick shapes. My pieces were about 3 inches long.
2. Mix the sesame oil, soy sauce, and sriracha in a jar with a tight lid or in a bowl with a whisk.
3. Combine the carrots and liquid mixture in a gallon-sized zip-top bag with as much air removed as possible. Let rest flat on a counter for at least 15 minutes, turning the bag over once.

4. Toward the end of the marinating time (you know your oven), preheat your oven to 450 degrees.
5. Pour the contents of the bag (including the liquid) into a glass 9x13 pan. Bake for 12-16 minutes or until carrots can be pierced with a fork without too much effort. You want them to still have some crunch.
6. Top with toasted sesame seeds.

Helpful Hints

• If you want to kick up the heat some, feel free to add more sriracha sauce. This is not really spicy, it's just warm. If you add too much, it will lose a lot of the other flavors. 
• With my CSA carrots, I didn't peel them. There was no need with my carrots, but peeling would also work just fine. 
• Low-sodium soy sauce is a must or this would be far too salty. If you don't have it, I would suggest combining soy sauce and water in maybe a 3:1 ratio. 
• This is gluten-free as long as you use a wheat-free soy sauce. 

The post "MVK Savory Roasted Carrots" originally appeared on Maggie's LesVegan Kitchen.