Cumin-Roasted Carrots with Wild Rice & Chickpeas

Adapted from: http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-cuminroasted-carrots-with-wild-rice-recipes-from-the-kitchn-208525?crlt.pid=camp.EejeV7DxDl5J

Courtesy of: the kitchn

Made on: 10/28/14

Yield: I separated mine into two 1-gallon freezer bags, which each made one square casserole dish.

INGREDIENTS

- 2 lbs carrots, peeled and sliced

- 2 T cumin

- 1 onion, diced

- 2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed

- ~2 T olive oil (adjust as needed)

- ½ tsp salt

- ½ tsp black pepper

- ½ C broth (whichever kind you prefer)

- 2 T lemon juice

- 2 C cooked wild rice

- ¼ C pepitas (lacking pumpkin seeds, I sprinkled some sesame seeds in but used far less than ¼ C)

- ¼ C feta cheese (or to taste)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.

2. In a roasting pan, combine the sliced carrots, diced onion, chickpeas, olive oil, and cumin powder. Stir to coat carrots with cumin and oil. Pour the vegetable broth and lemon juice into pan and cover with tin foil. Roast carrots for 30 minutes until tender, remove foil, and cook for another 10 to 15 minutes until carrots are tender.

3. Remove carrot mixture from oven and toss with wild rice, pepitas, and feta cheese. At this point, I split everything into two 1-gallon freezer bags and stored them in the freezer.

4. To cook after freezing, I emptied one of the freezer bags into a square baking dish and turned the oven to 350*. I turned it up to 400* after about half an hour to make sure everything was heated through. Total cooking time was approximately 1.5 hours. I also added a sprinkle of sesame seeds and feta after baking.

Adjustments I made: I froze this meal ahead of time, and I have the second half of it still stored in my freezer.

Adjustments I would like to make: I might make it in a crockpot next time, simply because it’s easier than heating it up in the oven with kids around. Spray the crock pot with cooking spray, dump the contents of the freezer bag in, and forget about it!

Overall Satisfaction: This was really good! I was excited to try something with wild rice, and this was a great experience. Plus, chickpeas, carrots, and cumin? You can’t go wrong. I have been trying to really appreciate the flavors in the food I cook by avoiding covering them with unnecessary additions (my standards include soy sauce, salsa, hot sauce…), so I didn’t add anything to this after it was done cooking, and it was plenty flavorful!

Would I Make it Again? Yes! Which is a good thing, since I have a second batch of it in the freezer. Unfortunately, the boys were hesitant to try it, but Jackson did choke some down. Ellie loved it, so I have at least one of them on my side!

Pictured: Just out of the oven

Pictured: My bowl of this tasty supper (note the lack of flavor additions -- it was delicious all by itself!)