How to Dice Carrots Like a Chef: Use These Pro Tip — When I started teaching my virtual cooking classes, I realized not everyone knows how to cut their veggies properly. It’s not that there is a right or wrong way of doing it, so when I say the proper way, I am referring to the safe way. The end result is the same, but there is a chance to slip and cut yourself if you are not working safely, especially with a round vegetable like a carrot.
I have created this quick video to show you how to dice carrots:
Like my last blog about celery, carrots are also the base of so many dishes. In French cooking, mirepoix is onion, carrot, and celery. They are the start of soups and stews. Carrots are also good for you, The fiber in carrots can help keep blood sugar levels under control. And they’re loaded with vitamin A and beta-carotene. They can strengthen your bones as they have both calcium and vitamin K.
Let’s start with raw carrots. The obvious choice is to slice them into sticks and eat them alone or with dip. It also makes a great snack when dipped in hummus or bean dip for some protein. If you have never had a white bean dip, I am a big fan. It’s better than hummus for me because it’s creamier and you can leave out the tahini typically found in hummus so that it’s lighter. I use cannellini beans and blend them in a food processor with some lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper and olive oil. You can alter the consistency by scaling back on the oil to make it thicker or adding some water to make it thinner. So delicious and easy!
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Raw carrots are also served alongside buffalo wings to dip into the blue cheese dip to cool you down. I love to make buffalo chicken meatballs and not only do carrots appear on the side, but they are also cooked inside the meatball.
Here is how I make it. Start with ground chicken, diced celery, carrot and onion, hot sauce and seasoning. Mix together and form meatballs with a cookie scoop. Bake on a parchment linked baking sheet in a 375F oven for up to 15 minutes or until fully cooked at 165F internal temperature. Toss with a combination of hot sauce and melted butter and serve with raw celery and carrots. Go with the traditional blue cheese dip or make your own lighter version with plain Greek yogurt, lemon juice, salt, pepper and any other seasoning to make it taste good to your palate. You can also add blue cheese crumbles to this dip to make it more traditional.
Another use for raw carrots is in a salad dressing. You know the ginger dressing you get on the iceberg lettuce in a Japanese restaurant? This simple dressing tastes very similar. In a high powered blender, combine carrots, olive oil, rice vinegar, ginger, a touch of honey and salt and pepper and blend until fully broken down and combined. If it’s too thick add a bit of water. Toss with any salad you want. It even goes great with arugula.
Carrots are also used a lot in soups and stews. One soup that celebrates the carrot is carrot ginger soup. It could not be easier to make and it is so full of flavor. It starts with onion, garlic and ginger cooked down in olive oil. Then add in chopped carrots (the smaller you cut them, the faster this soup cooks) and chicken or vegetable broth, salt and pepper and let those carrots soften. You can add a peeled and diced russet potato to help add body to the soup. Once the carrots are soft, use an immersion blender to puree the pot of soup. Serve with a dollop of yogurt and crusty bread and you have an amazing meal.
I have a share in a CSA (community supported agriculture) and we get a lot of carrots. The easiest thing I find to do with them to make a quick side dish for dinner is roasted carrots. I love roasted vegetables as it allows the vegetable to shine without adding a lot of other flavors. This dish is really beautiful if you have a bunch of rainbow carrots. My biggest advice when roasting is to make sure all of your veggies in the pan are around the same size. For carrots that could mean making little chunks or slicing them lengthwise to even everything out. Lay out your carrots on a roasting pan or rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with avocado oil (I prefer avocado oil over olive oil for it’s high smoke point). Toss the carrots in the oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. You want enough oil to coat the carrots but you don’t need a lot of oil pooled in the pan. Roast at 400F for at least 15 minutes depending on how small you cut your carrots or until tender but not mushy. You are still going to want a little bite to the carrot.
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In case you missed it in the last blog, I make a great warm lentil salad. Start with olive oil, diced celery, carrots and onion and once softened, add garlic, bay leaves, lentils and water to cover. Cook until the lentils are tender. Drain any excess water, season with salt and pepper. Dress with olive oil and lemon juice and eat as you would a side salad with quiche or as a vegetarian entree or perfect side dish to any meal.
The possibilities for carrots are endless. I hope you try out some of these recipes. Please let me know how you like them at debbie@theeffortlesskitchen.com. And if you like these tips you may enjoy one of my classes. Click this link to see my seasonal menu of live virtual cooking classes.
See you in the kitchen!
Debbie
DEBBIE BROSNAN
Debbie is a personal chef turned virtual cooking class instructor. She started The Effortless Kitchen in 2019 making dinners in her client’s homes and transitioned to virtual due to Covid. Debbie is a passionate self taught home cook who began her journey cooking along side her mother and grandmother as a young child. Her focus is on healthy food that tastes amazing using simple recipes so that those who take her classes will continue to make those dishes and others in their own kitchens. The Effortless Kitchen offers weekly classes, custom parties and corporate events and all are virtual, interactive and fun. Recorded classes are now offered for those who cannot make the live events. Culinary travel is being added into the mix in 2022 with the first adventure in March to Napa. Debbie is thrilled with the shift in her business as she can reach more people and share her gift with everyone. Through The Effortless Kitchen’s classes, Debbie is creating a community of people who are both comfortable and uncomfortable in the kitchen all brought together by the common thread of food.
