You are probably aware that carrots are considered a superfood because of the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants found within. But did you know that when eating raw carrots, our body is supposedly able to assimilate only 10% of the carotene (antioxidant) found in carrots, yet when adding fat to carrot dishes, the assimilation of carotene actually increases to 85–90%? In this recipe, we used olive oil as fat. If you don’t have any at hand, simply use any other vegetable fat you happen to have on hand at home.
To prepare oven-baked carrots, you will need:
- 1 kg carrots
- 3 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 tbsp. Wösel Apple Cider Vinegar (Apple Cider Vinegar with Honey is also suitable)
- 1 tbsp. honey 1 tsp. dried thyme
- Salt, pepper
First, to prepare the oven carrots, wash and peel the carrots (I used a mix of colourful carrots from Rautsi Farm Saaremaa), chop the carrots into small sticks and place them in a baking dish. Drizzle 3 tablespoons of olive oil on top and massage the carrots together with the oil, so that the carrots are evenly covered with oil. Add a little pepper and salt. The amount of salt could be such that the taste of the carrots is slightly salty. Mix the components once more and place the baking dish in a 180- degree oven. Cook for about 15–20 minutes, then stir the carrots to ensure that they all cook evenly. Place the baking sheet back in the oven and bake for about 20 more minutes.
Lift the vegetables out of the oven for a moment and sprinkle some thyme over them, then pour the apple cider vinegar and honey previously mixed together in a bowl on top of the vegetables. I use organic honey from Aadama Mesindustalu. Mix the vegetables together, place the baking dish back in the oven, and bake for about 15 minutes until the carrots are pleasantly crispy. If necessary, add more salt. Oven-baked carrots are well suited as a side for meat dishes or combined with foodstuffs of vegetable origin (lentils, rice). Carrots taste good even after they have cooled.
