Honey Roasted Zaatar Carrots with Vanilla Tahini Dip

Ever do something so genius in the kitchen, you kind of surprise yourself? Yeah, that’s how I feel about these honey roasted zaatar carrots with vanilla-tahini cream dip. If you haven’t heard of zaatar or tahini, don’t worry. We’ll break it down for you, and get ready to have some seriously delicious side dish for your next dinner party! Let’s do this.

This past weekend, I celebrated Rosh Hashana, which is the Jewish new year. It’s a time where all the family gets together, eats tons of food, and sets intentions for the new year ahead. I hosted about 10 of my family members in our tiny Boston apartment, cooked for 2 days straight, and had the BEST time.

I feel really lucky that our family is really close, and really treasure these moments. I made a TON of food including Turkish coffee and cardamom spice rub brisket, cholent, crispy chicken with a lemon parsley gremolata, roasted beet salad, and THESE carrots.

Zaatar 101

It’s tradition on Rosh Hashana to eat apples and honey, so I incorporated the honey into this side dish and it was a big hit. I love using zaatar, which is a Middle Eastern spice blend of sesame seeds, oregano, thyme, marjoram, sea salt and sumac. Whenever I travel, I always like to bring back spice blends from other countries. But, no worries – if you can’t find zaatar at your home grocery store, you can buy it here.

What is Tahini?

Last, but certainly not least, this recipe is best with the vanilla tahini dip. I used a vanilla yogurt, but you could use coconut yogurt, greek yogurt, or even almond milk yogurt – just make sure to add a dash of vanilla extract to get the mix of sweet and salty.

Tahini may very well be my favorite ingredient in my entire kitchen – and that is saying ALOT! Tahini is an ingredient that every Israeli swears by. In fact, when I lived in Nepal with all other Israelis, the only packages we would request were boxes of tahini – that is how much we loved it!

Tahini is a thick sesame paste, that is mixed with water, lemon juice, garlic, and salt to make a creamy consistency that is drizzled over nearly everything. Seriously, its so good. You can find tahini in most big grocery stores, or buy it here.

Sesame seeds are an amazing source of calcium, iron and phosphorus, as well as magnesium. Tahini is pretty calorically dense, but its an awesome source of mono and poly-unsaturated fats. Only 2 of the 16 grams of fat in a 2-tablespoon serving of tahini is saturated. So go ahead, and get those healthy fats into your diet with a delicious tahini dip!

Anabelle Harari