Spiced Roasted Carrots with Avocado & Yogurt

Spring is here, a-suh-puh-ring is here
Life is Skittles and life is beer
I think the loveliest time of the year is the spring
I do, don't you? 'Course you do
But there's one thing that makes spring complete for me
And makes every Sunday a treat for me...
~Tom Lehrer

Today is the first day of spring. You wouldn't know it by looking out my window right now, as we're in the middle of a Pineapple Express storm, courtesy of Hawaii. Matters not, I'm breaking out some serious spring veggies.
 
I could certainly eat this as a main dish. My BF would not. [Ed. note: Carrots are not an entrée!] Still, you can serve this as a side dish to complement just about anything.

If you can't find rainbow carrots, you can go ahead and use regular orange carrots. They're pretty commonplace now, available in most grocery stores. We have them here at the local Trader Joe's, Safeway, Whole Foods, etc.

Wishing you and yours a wonderful Spring!
​
All the world seems in tune
On a spring afternoon
When we're poisoning pigeons in the park...

Adapted from: Smitten Kitchen
Number of Servings: 4

Ingredients
For the Carrots

• ¼ cup water
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground coriander 
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
• 1 teaspoon coarse or kosher salt, plus more to taste
• Red chile flakes, to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 4 garlic cloves, minced or grated
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 3 pounds thin-to-medium carrots, scrubbed, peeled or unpeeled; mixed colors are prettier here but not essential. Dry thorougly.

To Finish

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons orange juice (from about ¼ orange)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice (from about ½ lemon)
• 1 large or 2 medium firm-ripe avocados, cut into thin slices
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1-2 cups micro greens, radish sprouts (fresh dill was used here)
• ¼-½ cup plain yogurt or sour cream
• 2 tablespoons roasted hulled pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, toasted sesame seeds or a mix thereof

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400 °F.
2. Cover a large baking sheet pan with foil for easy cleanup.
3. In a small bowl combine spices, thyme, salt, pepper, garlic, vinegar and ¼ cup olive oil. Whisk to blend.
4. Spread carrots out on foil-lined baking sheet. Pour spice mixture over carrots and mix with a spatula (or your hands), making sure to get the spice-oil mixture all over every carrot.
5. Pour ¼ cup water in bottom of pan.
6. Cover tightly with foil and roast for 25 minutes.
7. Remove foil and roast for 30 more minutes, or until carrots are lightly browned and tender, but not falling apart.
8. Meanwhile, combine 2 tablespoons (each) olive oil, orange and lemon juices into a small dish with salt and pepper. Drizzle this citrus dressing over the carrots, scatter with avocado and sprouts, dollop yogurt/sour cream over the top, and sprinkle with seeds.

[Ed. note: Tom Lehrer was a favorite musical comedian of both our Momalas. No pigeons were harmed in the creation of this blog.]

When they see us coming
The birdies all try and hide
But they still go for peanuts
When coated with cyanide