Cheesy, crunchy chipotle carrot skins
These are just plain yum. Now of course they aren’t exactly like the traditional potato ones (which I love), but pretty good for a VLCD diet ! They look “oily” in the pictures, they really aren’t, there is minimal oil used. It is a combination of the roasting process which brings out the sweet caramel in the carrots and the added “cheese”which gives the crispy and creaminess. As they are in the higher bracket of allowed vegetables as far as carb and cal, so perhaps eat sparingly, the recipe below makes enough for 2 for an entree.
This is not really one for a week night meal. However, you could simply roast up some carrots, add sauce and cheese over the top and roast again, make it a casserole as a sensible modification ! My 2 year old son loved these !
- 3 medium carrots (the thicker the better)
- juice of 1 lime
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1/2 red onion, chopped
- 1 medium tomato, chopped finely
- 1 tbs chipotle paste (optional)
- Cauliflower cheddar cheese slices, cut into long thin strips (see associated recipe)
- 1 red or green chilli, thinly sliced
- Handful coriander leaves
- Heat oven to 200°C (180°C fan forced). Slice carrots in half lengthways and place on tray, toss in the olive oil. Bake for 1 hr until tender. Remove from the oven and let them cool.
- Meanwhile, mix the onion with the lime juice and a good pinch of salt. Leave to steep for at least 30 mins then drain the lemon juice off. This gives the dish a tang.
- Scoop the inner flesh out of the cooked carrots, leaving a thin layer of carrot on the skins. This can be tricky, use a small knife to remove the core and then a teaspoon for the flesh (see pic).
- Dollop the tomato mixture all over, then scatter over the cheese and chilli.
- Return to the oven for 15 mins to crisp up and melt the cheese.
- Scatter with the coriander and drained onions. Season & dig in.
- These take a while to make. They are fiddly. They are super yummy but allow time !
- This is a US based scoring system, so notes fibre as a sub category of carbs, so you need to minus fibre to get the total carb count for the Australian & NZ calculation
