I knew I was making super simple sausage and kraut meal so I wanted to add another element to my dinner that would be a little different. On Pinterest I had seen a million many recipes for carrot fries, sweet potato fries, and you name it fries. But because I actually had carrots and technically its ‘in season’ I decided to try a version of carrot fries. One of the recipes that caught my attention was spicy cilantro carrot fries from Fast Paleo.
So why not call my recipe the same thing? Well, because I cheated. If I had fresh cilantro I probably would have. But currently, my fresh cilantro is still growing. All I have is dehydrated cilantro from last summer. I think if the cilantro was fresh it would have been more prominent in flavor. Instead, the cumin stood out much more.
Another variation I made was with my spice. Hot peppers are not in season so I used a touch of cayenne powder instead. And guess what? They were delicious. My hubs even loved them and I have a difficult time getting him to eat veggies as all. Here’s my version:
[gmc_recipe 7915]
Ingredients
Bake
- 12 large carrots (peeled)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Pesto
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 1 teaspoon cayenne
- 1 ½ teaspoons cumin
- 1 small lime juice
- salt (to taste)
- 1/3 cup olive oil
Directions
Bake
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 200°C / 400°F / Gas Mark 6. Cut carrots into fry-like strips. Make sure they are not too thin.
Step 2
In a glass baking dish or cookie sheet covered with parchment paper, place carrots and coat with 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Place in heated oven for 20 minutes.
Pesto
Step 3
While that is baking, place the rest of the ingredients into a food processor. If the pesto is still a little too dry add more olive oil until it is a thin paste.
Step 4
Check on the carrots. If they are mostly cooked, coat the carrots with cilantro pesto sauce. Bake for another 5 minutes. Voila! You’ve made spicy cumin carrot fries. 
Post links to: Seasonal Celebration Sundays, Sunday School, Homestead Barnhop, Real Food 101, Fat Tuesday, Traditional Tuesday, Hearth and Soul Hop, Simple Lives Thursday, Pennywise Platter, Fight Back Friday, Friday Food Flicks, Pregnancy Superfood Sunday, Real Food Wednesday,
sounds and looks gorgeous. i’m on a spice binge of late, due to pregnancy. thanks for sharing
You are very welcome! Hope you like it!
You post THE BEST recipes!!!! Thanks, can’t wait to try this one!
Aww, thanks Fran! They are DE-LISH and hubs approved! Thanks for pinning. Think we got a lot of hits off this when you pinned it.
You da’ best!
What an awesome idea! I guess I don’t spend enough time on Pinterest, because I had never heard of carrot fries. Totally want to try them now! My fresh cilantro is still growing, too, but when it’s ready to harvest I know what I want to do with it now
These look great! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Before I make this, does the recipe really use 1 cup of dehydrated cilantro for 6 carrots?
I actually made it with 6 carrots and had leftover pesto. I simply used it for another recipe. You can cut it in half but be sure to half the other ingredients as well. Enjoy!
This looks yummy- I roast carrots sometimes but never make them as fries- I can;t wait to try this one out!
Technically, it is roasted. You could fry them in lard I suppose and quick roast them with the seasoning. I bet that’d taste great too. I just didn’t want the mess.
These sound delicious and I must try them. Thank you for sharing this post on Seasonal Celebration Sunday!
These sound wonderful! What a deliciously spicy way to serve carrots!
This looks fantastic, tasty, and perfect for breastfeeding and pregnant women. Would you be willing to post this on my natural food blog, superfood sundays at ……
http://www.painfreepregnancy.org/2012/05/superfood-sunday-may-6th-2012.html
Thanks!!
Yum!
These fries look amazing! I love sweet potato and carrot fries, but I have never tried them with spicy southwest seasonings. What a delicious combination!
I just made beet fries w/ crushed anise seeds & kosher salt. Carrot fries seem like a good next substitute for the usual potato fry. I will give these a shot!
[...] Spicy Cumin Carrot Fries Also be sure to check out Jen’s Gardening posts! [...]