
Carrots and fennel two ways
One of the recent food trends is serving vegetables in both a cooked and raw form. Sometimes the raw vegetable is quick-pickled and in this recipe it is simply served raw, thinly sliced into ribbons. The combination of crisp and roasted works particularly well with carrots and fennel but slice them very thinly on a mandoline.
The beautiful heirloom carrots in this dish are from Sunshine Farm Seeds here in the Okanagan (find them at the farmer’s market on Saturday) and the recipe adapted from Alison Roman’s book Dining In. I added a yoghurt creme fraiche sauce that I smeared on the plate and piled the vegetables on top, a recent plating trend that I like as the sauce tends to cover the beautiful colours of the vegetables if drizzled on top.
This dish is good at room temperature and can be made a few hours ahead.
Enjoy.
Recipe:
Vegetables:
1 bunch summer carrots, including purple and yellow if you have them
1 round or 4 elongated small fennel bulbs
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
Sauce:
1/3 cup creme fraiche
1/3 cup plain greek yoghurt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons honey
Salt and pepper
Garnishes:
A handful of cilantro, leaves left whole
A handful microgreens
1/3 cup chopped pistachios
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
Tender carrot greens
Directions:
Reserve a couple of carrots for serving raw. Cut remaining carrots in half lengthwise keeping part of the green top on.
Reserve half a fennel for serving raw. Cut remaining fennel into thin wedges.
Place carrots and fennel on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil using your hands to rub it all over the vegetable.
Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper.
Roast in a 425F oven until the vegetables are tender and cooked through. The fennel may take longer to cook so remove the carrots when they are done.
Raw carrots and fennel: slice them thinly lengthwise on a mandoline, place in a bowl and cover with ice water.
Sauce: combine all the ingredients in a small bowl, mix well and taste to adjust the seasoning.
To serve: smear some of the sauce on individual plates or on a serving plate, pile vegetables on top.
Garnish: scatter cilantro, microgreens and chopped pistachios over
Serve warm or at room temperature.
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