If you are a carrot fan, this is your dish.

After my wonderful trip to Portland, I came back very inspired. This is a Portland inspired dish, that I ate at Coquine restaurant. Basically, there were three kinds of carrots in three different textures: a puree, roasted and shaved. So I decided to reproduce something similar which turned out quite delicious. I love the deep orange color of the dish and the very different carrot textures and flavors. It is a vegan dish, so one of those “make-you-feel-clean-meal”, at least that’s how I feel.

This dish is very well balanced in terms of textures and flavors. The smoothness of the puree contrasts with the sweet crunchiness of the fried leeks and soft lentils.

In France we have a saying “les carottes, ça rend aimable” (carrots make you pleasant), which I don’t know where it comes from, so today I have to say that I am extremely pleasant, especially that I ate two portions instead of one.

There are many different steps in this recipe but fast steps, so it’s not too time consuming.

Ingredients for 2

For the roasted carrots

• about 10 small carrots, peeled with stems (keep one inch stem)
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp honey
• salt and pepper

For the carrot purée

• 3 carrots, peeled and cut
• vegetable broth (enough to cover the carrots)
• 1/4 tsp cumin powder
• chili powder
• 5-6 tbs cashew milk
• salt and pepper

For the lentils

• 1/3 cup black lentils
• 2 cloves
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 onion
• 1 celery stem
• 1/2 carrot
• 1 tsp olive oil
• salt and pepper

For the fried leeks

• Leek bottom (the white part) cut in 2 inches pieces, then into match sticks
• vegetable oil
• flour
• corn starch
• salt

For the shaved carrots

Using a mandoline, slice carrots very finely.

Preparation

For the roasted carrots

In a small bowl, mix oil, paprika, cumin powder, honey, salt and pepper. Coat the carrots with the mixture and broil under broiler until carrots are golden brown.

For the carrot purée

Place carrots in a pot with broth and let cook until carrots are tender. You might need to add broth if not enough during cooking process. When carrots are cooked, place in a mixer and mix until smooth consistency. Add all the other ingredients. Keep warm.

For the lentils

Wash lentils. Cook lentils in a pot of water with all other ingredients. When lentils are cooked, drain and add olive oil and salt.

For the fried leeks

Heat oil in a pan. Mix flour and corn starch. Coat leeks with mixture.

Add leeks to hot oil and cook until golden brown and crunchy. Make sure not to burn the leeks. When leeks are golden brown, remove from pan to a plate and pat dry with paper to absorb oil. Add salt and pepper at the end

Place some purée first on bottom of the plate, add lentils, divide roasted carrots on the plate. Top it with sliced carrots and fried leeks.