Blanching the carrots before roasting them makes a huge difference. Not only are they more flavorful, they also become juicy and tender after roasting. Coating them with a fragrant spice paste and cooking them along with fresh citrus infuses them with an intoxicating blend of flavors.

　　

Ingredients

Serves 4

　　1 pound medium carrots, peeled

　　3 garlic cloves

　　1 teaspoon cumin seeds

　　1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

　　1/4 teaspoon crushed red chile flakes

　　Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste

　　1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

　　1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

　　1 1/2 oranges

　　2 lemons, halved

　　

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

　　

Step 2

Bring a wide pot of water to a boil. Add the carrots and cook until a knife pierces them easily, about 20 minutes.

　　

Step 3

Meanwhile, in a mortar and pestle, pound the garlic, cumin, thyme, chile, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper until crushed and pasty. Add the vinegar and 1/4 cup of the oil and continue pounding until well mixed. Alternatively, pulse in a food processor or blender until pasty.

　　

Step 4

Drain the carrots and arrange in a medium roasting pan in a single layer. Spoon the cumin mixture over. Cut the whole orange in half. Arrange the orange halves and 2 of the lemon halves over the carrots, cut sides down. Roast for 25 minutes or until the carrots are golden brown. Transfer the carrots to a platter.

　　

Step 5

When cool enough to handle, squeeze 2 tablespoons juice each from the roasted orange and lemon into a small bowl. Squeeze in 2 tablespoons orange juice from the remaining orange half as well as 2 tablespoons lemon juice from the remaining lemon. Whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons oil to emulsify. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle over the carrots.

　　Reprinted with permission from Home Cooking with Jean-Georges: My Favorite Simple Recipes by Jean-Georges Vongerichten with Genevieve Ko. Copyright © 2011 by Jean-Georges Vongerichten; photographs copyright © 2011 by John Kernick. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved.Jean-Georges Vongerichten is one of the most influential chefs in the world, having single-handedly redefined haute French cuisine, lightening and refining it by adding select Asian accents. He is the chef-owner of dozens of restaurants in fourteen cities around the world. His flagship restaurant, Jean Georges, at New York's Columbus Circle, is one of six restaurants in the United States to have been awarded three coveted Michelin stars; it received four stars from the New York Times. The winner of multiple James Beard Foundation awards, he lives in New York City and Waccabuc, New York, with his family.Genevieve Ko is a cookbook author and the senior food editor at Good Housekeeping magazine. She has written for Martha Stewart Living, Gourmet, and Fine Cooking and lives in New York City with her family.