Culinary Guides

This is less a recipe than a method, and a very good one. Carrots are tossed with oil and warm spices, roasted until they caramelize, then piled over a pot of simple green lentils with a scoop of yogurt and a squeeze of lemon. That is it. After a long day of tasting other dishes, this is the one we kept going back to: big flavor for very little effort. Roast a batch of your own garden carrots and you will taste the difference.

Ingredients

• 1 pound carrots, scrubbed clean and sliced in half lengthwise
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• Sprinkle of salt
• 1 cup green lentils
• 1 clove of garlic, peeled
• 1/2 of a yellow onion, cut into 2-3 large chunks
• 1 bay leaf
• Yogurt for serving
• Fresh lemon juice for serving
• Salt and pepper for serving

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 400F (200C).
2. Toss the halved carrots with the olive oil, cinnamon, paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, and a sprinkle of salt. Spread them in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast 25 to 30 minutes, flipping halfway, until tender and golden.
3. While the carrots roast, rinse the lentils and pick out any pebbles. Put them in a pot with the peeled garlic clove, onion chunks, bay leaf, and a pinch of salt. Cover with cold water by about 1 inch, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, covered, 25 to 30 minutes until tender. Add water if they start to look dry.
4. Discard the garlic, onion, and bay leaf, and drain off any extra water.
5. Divide the lentils between plates and top with the roasted carrots. Add a generous scoop of yogurt, squeeze lemon over the top, and season with salt and pepper.
6. Serve warm or at room temperature, with crusty bread or a green salad alongside.

Both parts hold well. Roast the carrots and cook the lentils ahead, then reheat and assemble. Leftovers keep 3 days in the fridge.

Grower's tip: Carrots for roasting are sweetest when pulled young and slender. Sow the seed thinly and thin the seedlings to about two inches apart, because crowded roots stay skinny and woody and never build the sugar that makes them caramelize.

The whole plate leans on the garden. Grow a bed of sweet carrots and a few onions, and tuck in a cayenne plant from our pepper seeds for the pinch of heat.