Last year for Jedd’s birthday we had a big backyard party. I went to town making tons of chicken shawarma, hummus, pickled onions, and harissa carrots. One of our friends raved about the carrots, and asked what was on them. I said they were coated in harissa. Her eyes lit up and she said, “I’ve got a big jar of that stuff, and I’ve never known what to do with it!”
And, so, I promised I’d write up the recipe.
*cough, cough*
Fast forward to over a year, and here they are! (Okay, I’m not the most punctual person in the world. And, she probably doesn’t even remember the promise, but, hey. I did it!)
Anyway, the point of that anecdote is that harissa can turn any side dish into the main attraction. It’s spicy, it’s a little sweet, and it also makes anything you toss it with look freaking gorgeous!
For this recipe though, I went a little nuts and combined rainbow carrots with baby potatoes. I had a small amount of soup for a main dish for three of us, so I definitely needed to stretch the meal in a “no muss, no fuss” fashion.
And that’s where my old friend harissa came into play!
With nothing more for dirty dishes than a little cutting board, a knife, a small bowl, a fork, and a spatula, I had a big enough side dish to not only augment dinner, but to also give us a little nosh for a snack later on.
And that’s what I call a side dish that works for you!
Note: Because carrots love to range in size, if you have some very small carrots you might just want to throw them on the pan with about 15 minutes left of cooking time.
Harissa Baby Potatoes and Rainbow Carrots
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons harissa paste
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 lb. baby potatoes, halved
- 2 large carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro or parsley
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Fit a large, rimmed sheet pan with parchment.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, harissa, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
- Place the vegetables on the prepared sheet pan.
- Pour the harissa mixture over the vegetables, and toss well to coat.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes.
- Toss with cilantro or parsley.
- Note: If using very small carrots, reserve some of theharissa mixture. Add carrots to pan approximately 15 minutes before the potatoes are done, and toss the carrots on the pan with the reserved harissa mixture.
