Roasted Carrot Fries with Garlic Basil Ketchup
/Rainbow carrots do not even seem real. Just like fluorescent colored chard stems. How does the earth DO this? Do little garden elves come out at night and inject food coloring into the soil to create these colors? That must be it.
I’m not usually a cooked carrot fan but roasted carrots are completely different. These almost remind me of sweet potato fries. Like sweet potato fries these don’t crisp like a regular potato, but they are a super tasty sometimes substitute.
Kind of like cauliflower mashed “potatoes.” Totally delicious, but sometimes I just want potato-mashed potatoes. You with me?
Anyway.
These are delicious. And addicting.
I probably—most definitely—ate all of the carrot fries before, during, and after the photo shoot. That’s SIX large, beefy carrots consumed in an hour. I don’t know whether to be proud of this or troubled by it. I know they’re just carrots but that’s a lot of carrots. I could never eat that many raw carrots.
Let’s move on…
To the ketchup!
I am a huge fan of this tomato based condiment. I just can’t help myself.
Fries are basically ketchup spoons. I mean, I like fries, but I might like ketchup more.
If a restaurant has homemade ketchup I’m a fan for life. While this isn’t homemade it’s a fun way to liven up your favorite store-bought ketchup.
Since I’ve now eaten my weight in carrots and ketchup—there could be worse things—let’s just move on to the recipe.
Roasted Carrot Fries with Garlic Basil Ketchup
gluten-free, vegan // yields 2-3 servings
- 6 large carrots
- 2 teaspoons safflower oil, or other high-heat oil
- salt and pepper
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons chopped basil
- black pepper
Preheat your oven to 400* F.
Peel and trim ends from carrots. Chop each carrot into 3-4 inch segments. Quarter the segments. If the ends of one or more of your carrots is very thin you may just want to halve it. Aim for fairly uniform pieces.
Toss with oil and salt + pepper and spread in an even layer on a baking sheet. Roast for 20 minutes, then flip and roast for another 10-20 minutes until golden brown and tender with crisp edges [time will depend on thickness].
While roasting the carrots heat a small pan with 1 teaspoon of oil over medium-low/low heat. Once hot place the garlic in the pan and stir constantly for about 3-5 minutes until light brown in color. If it starts turning brown right away the pan is too hot.Place the garlic on a doubled over paper towel on top of a plate to drain the oil. Let cool.
Mix half of the garlic with the ketchup, basil, and a big pinch of black pepper. Let sit in the fridge while carrots finish roasting.
Toss carrots with remaining garlic and place in the oven for 1 more minute [no longer or it will burn]. Remove from the oven and serve with ketchup.
notes: The garlic addition is optional but tasty. Highly recommend at least adding it to the ketchup.
Giveaway announcement!
The winner of Angela’s, The Oh She Glows Cookbook, is: Kate M! “I love her website and am very excited about her new book! I love something easy like pasta or veggie burgers.”
Congrats to Kate + thanks to all who entered!
Now, let’s do this Monday thang.
Ashley
