Roasted carrot chips with hummus

Roasted vegetables aren’t just for Sunday roasts! The next time you fancy binging on a bunch of oily, salt ridden chips or fries from the shop, consider switching up to a healthier version. Alright, the healthier version would ideally be sweet potatoes; can’t get your hands on any of those? Use other root vegetables such as carrots or parsnips instead! These roasted carrot chips flavoured with garlic and rosemary are sweet, soft, crunchy all combined with a few charred bits that make it a delicious snack when you’re trying to snack healthy! Serving it up with a classic homemade hummus dip only makes it that little bit better. Make these vegetable fries your everyday snack and you definitely won’t feel like your missing out on cheat days!

PREPARATION TIME: 50 minutes, depends on thickness of chips

INGREDIENTS (serves 2)

For the carrot chips:

4-5 medium-sized carrots (raw)
2 teaspoons olive oil
3 cloves of garlic
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

For the hummus:

120g chickpeas (half a store-bought can, drained)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove of garlic, peeled
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon tahini* (optional)
3 tablespoons of water
Salt & black pepper, to taste

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 230°C.

Thoroughly wash and dry your carrots before using them. Next peel the carrots and cut them lengthwise into quarters.

Note: You can chop the carrots as roughly or precisely as you choose, they taste just as good, only the cooking times vary a tad bit.

Line a baking tray/ baking tin with parchment paper and set aside.

Transfer the carrots into the baking tin. Drizzle with olive oil, bruise the garlic and rub it over the carrots. Toss the garlic cloves into the tray as well.

Place in the oven and bake for 40 minutes or until visibly starting to catch some colour, tossing them at a 20 minute interval.

While the carrots are in the oven, move on to making the hummus. A classic hummus is possibly the easiest healthy dip you could make in minutes rather than use store-bought dips full of preservatives.

Toss all the ingredients for the hummus into a blender and pulse for a few minutes. Adjust the seasoning if required and blend until smooth.

Once out the oven, finely chop some rosemary, add some sea salt and sprinkle the dry rub over the carrots. Transfer the hummus into a serving bowl.

These carrot chips are best served warm, straight out the oven! Dip it in some freshly made hummus and they make a pretty healthy snack!

PRESSURE POINTS

When chopping the carrots, try to cut them as even as possible. You’re bound to get a few charred ends either way unless you choose to cut them like proper ‘fries’.

Avoid seasoning the carrots before baking them to ensure they don’t go soggy in the oven.

When blending the hummus, be sure not to add additional amounts of water or it ruins the consistency of the dip.

If you give this recipe a go, I’d love to see how it turned out. Leave a comment below and share your pictures on Instagram using the tag #thecookbooklife!

Snack healthy!

Nikita xx