Roasted Carrots with Green Labneh and Pistachios

A rainbow of petite root vegetables served with a bright, herby sauce makes for a side dish that steals the show.

Serves
6
Time
45 minutes

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MURRAY HALL; FOOD STYLING BY OLIVIA MACK MCCOOL; PROP STYLING BY SOPHIE STRANGIO

Published on April 20, 2023

Welcome to In Good Season, SAVEUR’s column on making the most of local produce according to contributing editor Fatima Khawaja. Here you’ll find creative, unfussy meal ideas plus plenty of cooking advice—like what to do with that bumper crop of zucchini or how to store delicate heirloom tomatoes. Follow along, and you’ll learn how to turn the season’s bounty into easy plant-based meals.

We’re all familiar with orange-colored carrots, but the root vegetables actually come in all different gorgeous hues, from white and yellow to magenta and purple. And few vegetable dishes bring me more joy to look at—and of course, to eat—than a rainbow of long petite carrots, their green fringes mostly trimmed but with an inch or so still attached. It’s a beautiful way to present the vegetable.

After roasting the carrots, which brings out their natural sweetness, sprinkle them with chopped pistachios for a sweet, earthy crunch. Serve the dish alongside a bright, herby labneh-based sauce, and you might forget every other dish on the table.

This recipe will work with any carrots, even the larger ones—just trim them down into strips and ensure they’re all similar in size for even roasting.

Ingredients

1½ lb. rainbow carrots, leafy tops trimmed, cleaned
3 Tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. kosher salt, divided
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
12 oz. labneh, or plain full-fat Greek yogurt
1 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
1 cup coarsely chopped parsley leaves
¼ cup fresh lemon juice, plus more
1 small garlic clove, finely chopped
¼ cup roasted salted shelled pistachios, coarsely chopped

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Instructions

Step 1

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400ºF. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil, then place the carrots on top and add the oil, cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, and the black pepper; toss to coat. Bake until the carrots are browned in spots and tender when pierced with a knife, 25–30 minutes.