Carrots: The Perfect Easter Side Dish

These colorful carrots are as perky as Easter eggs

Certain dishes fit logically onto the Easter table. Bunnies cause us to think about carrots or a bowl of dressed greens, so usually include those. Below are some of the recipes I’ve used over the years.

the retro: Carrots Persillade;
the exotic: Roasted Carrots with Harissa Sauce, by Chef J. Kenji Lopez-Alt;
the Mediterranean: Sicilian Carrots;
the French: Carrot Salad by Dorie Greenspan;
the wine doused: Carrots Marsala from William-Sonoma

Carrots Persillade

I treat this dish as a company or holiday treat and for good reason. The original recipe calls for a stick of butter, for heaven’s sake! But I’ve cut that in half with no ill effect to this stunning dish of Carrots Persillade.

A beautiful side dish for any occasion

The recipe is at least 50 years old. The only version I’ve seen on the Internet that comes close to it is at Canadian Living. I tripped onto one recipe that used chicken broth instead of butter. I think that’s worth a try, but I’ve not done it yet.

Don’t let the French name intimidate you. A persillade (pronounced: pear-see-yahd) is merely a mixture of parsley, garlic, and sometimes bread crumbs. It’s simple, but when used as a topping it does wonders for a bowl of carrots, potatoes, or green beans.

Roasted Carrots with Harissa Sauce & Crème Fraîche

Harissa is often called the ketchup of North Africa and the Middle East. You can find it in a jar or tube at Amazon, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and World Market. Or you can make your own harissa with a blend of red chilis, roasted peppers, tomato paste, garlic, cumin, coriander, paprika, and lemon juice.

But it’s much easier to track down harissa than it is to assemble all the ingredients. Sriracha is a terrific substitute in this Roasted Carrots with Harissa Sauce and you’re more likely to have the rooster sauce on hand.

Sicilian Carrots

Carrots seldom have center stage. Too often they wind up sharing the spotlight with other vegetables in soups, stew an salads. These roasted Sicilian Carrots correct that. The long, oven temperature brings out the sweetness in the vegetable and gives it a taste much like sweet potatoes fries. Ingredients include carrots, pine nuts, dried cranberries, and basil leaves.

French Carrot Salad

Carrot Salad from My French Table by Dorie Greenspan. Dorie has written 13 cookbooks and won three James Beard Awards. She blogs regularly about her kitchen escapades at her homes in Paris, Manhattan, and Westbrook CT.