Honey Roasted Carrots with Labneh and Fresh Dill
Ingredients
- 10 carrots
- ½ cup fresh dill
- 3 sprigs of thyme
- 1 cup labneh
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400° F.
- Wash, peel and prep your carrots. If carrots are skinny, you can peel them and place them onto a cookie sheet. If the carrots are thicker in diameter, you can cut them lengthwise into halves.
- Drizzle honey and olive oil over carrots on baking sheet. Use your hands to make sure the carrots are properly coated on all sides.
- Add salt and pepper.
- Bake in the oven at 400° F for about 25-30 minutes.
- Take them out of the oven and set aside.
- On a large serving plate add about a cup (or more) of labneh. My favorite is called Luretik.
- Add your carrots then freshly chopped dill and thyme to the top.
- Drizzle a good olive oil over the whole thing.
Hosting Tip: “Ask for help from the right people. Some people aren't going to be comfortable making bread rolls or a dessert, but maybe they're great at making salad. Others can be asked to bring drinks or clean afterward. Nobody is a mind-reader—don’t be afraid to set up a spreadsheet where they can sign up!”
Crispy Potatoes
Ingredients
- 10 small yellow gold potatoes
- 1/2 tablespoon baking soda
- olive oil
- salt
- rosemary, garlic, chives (optional)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400° F.
- In a large Dutch oven, bring water, baking soda and salt to a boil. Place unpeeled potatoes into the water and reduce the heat to medium-low. Once the potatoes are soft to touch (20-25 min), drain and let sit for 10 minutes.
- On a cutting board, grab a potato and use any large object (wine bottle, glass jar) and smash down the potato. Do this gently and have a spatula close by to transfer to a baking dish. Once you have smashed all the potatoes, add salt and olive oil.
- Place in oven and roast for 20 minutes or until crispy.
- Top with the garlic, rosemary and fresh chives.
Cooking tip: “I don’t peel my potatoes because who really has time for that? The secret to this recipe: baking soda. The baking soda makes the water alkaline which helps break down the surface of the potatoes, making them very crispy and very delicious.”
Honey Nut Squash
Ingredients
- 3 honeynut squashes
- olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- smoked paprika
- pomegranates
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400° F.
- Slice the squashes in half, remove all of the seeds.
- Add olive oil, salt and pepper and roast for 30 minutes.
- Add smoked paprika and pomegranates to serve.
Hosting tip: “It’s all in the way you present it to kids. When you ask your kids to join, try not to make it sound like a punishment. Emphasize that they have a responsibility prepping really yummy food. Include a special drink for the kids while they're helping, like spiced apple cider. Adjust your expectations to allow for extra mess, extra time and know it won’t turn out exactly as if you'd had done it yourself. But the tradeoff of creating happy memories is 100% worth it.”