The first time I cooked heirloom carrots, I lined them up on the board by colour before I touched a knife. Deep purple, dusty gold, that ordinary orange we all grew up on, and a couple of pale yellow ones that looked almost like parsnips. It felt a little indulgent to slow down over a vegetable most of us boil without a second thought, but that is sort of the point. The food I reach for when I want to feel steady tends to be the food I actually look at first. A pile of grated orange carrot has its place, but three or four colours, charred and glossy with green salsa, asks you to pay attention. And attention, I have come to believe, is half of what eating well is really about.
This dish comes from the kitchen at the Golden Door, where Executive chef David Hunter built it as a spring side that does not apologise for being mostly carrots. The salsa verde is what lifts it. Parsley and basil, lemon and lime, capers and a little heat from jalapeno, all blitzed into a bright green spoonful that you toss through the warm carrots while the char is still talking. I find dishes like this settle me in a way a heavier plate never does. There is something honest about colour on a plate, and these carrots give you a handful of it at once, with hardly any effort and almost nothing you would not already have in the crisper.
If you have been eating in a way that feels grey and rushed lately, a side like this is a gentle correction. It is plant-forward without being precious, and it pairs with almost anything you might already be cooking. I usually serve it alongside something simple and protein-led, the way I would with my poached salmon with fennel when I want a quiet, unfussy dinner. The carrots bring the sweetness, the fish brings the calm, and the salsa verde stitches the two together.
A word on the carrots themselves. Heirloom varieties have been kept going by growers who valued flavour and colour over uniformity, which is why no two look quite the same. Buy them with the tops still on if you can, give them a good wash rather than a hard peel, and let the skins stay. Most of a carrot’s character, and a fair share of its goodness, sits just under the surface. The purple ones in particular hold their colour better when you steam them gently first and char them fast, which is exactly the order this recipe asks for.
Ingredients
Serves four
- 12 carrots mixed colours (purple yellow orange)
Salsa Verde (makes 150 grms)
- 1 cup of continental parsley
- ½ cup of basil
- 1 lemon zest
- 1 lime zest and juice
- 2 tbls capers
- 1 tbls jalapeno chili
- 1 tbls tasteless coconut oil
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
Method
- To make the salsa verde all ingredients into a food processor and process till combined. Set aside in refrigerator
- Wash carrots thoroughly. Gently steam carrots over boiling water or on steam bake in oven for 6 mins. Heat char grill then place carrots on char grill turn carrot to char evenly.
- Once charred place in bowl and add 2 tbls of salsa verde gently toss together then arrange on serving plate any leftover salsa can be sprinkled on top serve with steamed fish or chicken.
Tip: Any left over salsa verde can be stored in the fridge for up to two weeks.
Recipe by Executive chef David Hunter
How I like to serve it
The recipe suggests steamed fish or chicken, and that is lovely, but I want to make a quiet case for keeping it vegetarian some nights too. Spooned over a bowl of warm quinoa or a soft, herby white bean mash, these carrots become the centre of the plate rather than a supporting act. A poached or jammy egg on top turns it into a full meal, and the leftover salsa verde does serious work folded through roasted chickpeas the next day. Carrots are an easy way to bring more vegetables and a little natural sweetness into a meal, and Better Health Victoria has a good plain-language overview of fruit and vegetables and why variety matters if you like to know the why behind the what. I am not interested in rules so much as habits, and a plate built around colour is a habit that tends to look after itself.
If you are entertaining, this is a generous one to put in the middle of the table and let people pull at. The colours do the decorating for you, and there is no last-minute panic because the salsa is already made. For a heartier spread, I will lean on something warming alongside, like my mushroom, chicken and quinoa skillet, so nobody leaves hungry. For more on building meals around the vegetables first, Nutrition Australia keeps a sensible set of everyday eating fact sheets that I send people to often.
What I notice, more than anything, is how this kind of cooking changes my pace. Charring carrots is not something you can hurry. You stand at the grill, you turn them, you wait for the colour. By the time they hit the bowl I am usually calmer than when I started, which is reason enough to make it. If you are building a few weeks of meals that leave you feeling lighter, this slots in neatly beside my feta, sweet potato and eggplant frittata and the kind of thinking I wrote about in our gut health challenge. Small, colourful, repeatable plates are what hold a healthy stretch together, and they are gentler on the spirit than any strict rule ever was.
One more thing I will quietly admit: I almost always make a double batch of the salsa verde, because two weeks in the fridge is an open invitation and I have never once let it go to waste. It finds its way onto everything, from grain bowls to a plain piece of toast on a slow Sunday morning. If your week needs a small win, start here, with twelve carrots and a food processor, and see how the rest of the day feels afterwards.
— Tanya Pryce, Golden Door Living
