Grilled Carrots

with Sweet and Sour Carrot Sauce

Makes 4 servings

When’s the last time you grilled a carrot? Maybe it’s because they’re not considered a “summer vegetable,” but we don’t think about carrots often enough when we’re cooking over a live fire. This dish started out with me throwing some carrots on the wood-fired grill at my restaurant, and I let them go until they were very charred all over. They tasted like barbecued carrots, so I created a carrot-based barbecue sauce to double up on their sweet, earthy flavor. As with other vegetables and meats, I season carrots with both salt and sugar before they hit the grill to help them quickly pick up some char. To ensure even cooking, try to use carrots that are mostly uniform in thickness.

Sweet and Sour Carrot Sauce

Makes 2 cups

• 1 tablespoon sunflower or vegetable oil
• 1 medium shallot, thinly sliced
• 3 medium orange carrots, peeled and cut into ¼-inch rounds (about 1 cup)
• 1½ teaspoons kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon hot smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped red finger chile
• ⅓ cup sugar
• ⅓ cup fresh lime juice
• ½ cup champagne vinegar
• ⅔ cup extra-virgin olive oil

In a medium skillet, heat the sunflower oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook, stirring, until they start to turn golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the carrots, salt, and paprika and cook until slightly tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the chile, sugar, lime juice, and vinegar, bring to a simmer, and cook until the carrots are just tender and the liquid has reduced by about half, 2 to 3 minutes longer. Scrape the contents of the skillet into a blender. With the machine running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Transfer to a container and reserve. The sauce can be made a day or two ahead of time and refrigerated until ready to use.

Grilled Carrots

• 1 pound medium carrots (or a mix of medium and baby carrots), peeled, leaving some greens attached
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• Sweet and Sour Carrot Sauce

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. If any of the carrots are thicker than 1 inch, cut them on the bias into ½-inch slices. Working in batches, blanch the carrots until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Transfer to paper towels and pat dry.

Prepare a hot grill or preheat a grill pan over high heat. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the carrots with the olive oil and season with the salt and sugar. Grill the carrots until well charred and just tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Return them to the baking sheet and toss with about ½ cup of the carrot sauce, or more as needed to coat them completely.

For Serving

• ¼ cup roasted sunflower seeds
• ¼ cup roasted pumpkin seeds
• Grilled Carrots
• 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons roughly chopped parsley
• 2 tablespoons roughly chopped mint
• Flaky sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Extra-virgin olive oil

Pulse the sunflower and pumpkin seeds in a food processor until roughly chopped (you can also do this with a knife).

Arrange the carrots on a platter or large, shallow bowl and sprinkle with the chopped seeds. Finely grate some lemon zest over, then cut the lemon into wedges and squeeze one or two over the carrots. Sprinkle the parsley and mint over and season with flaky salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and serve.

The Takeaway

Most barbecue sauces are based on tomatoes (or ketchup), but why not use another vegetable as the main ingredient? Carrots are certainly up to the task, as are beets, parsnips, red peppers, and other earthy vegetables that also have some inherent sweetness. This carrot sauce will go with anything you’d slather with regular barbecue sauce, from smoked ribs to grilled chicken and even fatty fish like salmon.