Your weekend plans include: shopping to make this for Meatless Monday.

G and I hit the Farmer’s Market as usual on Sunday and impulse-bought a couple bunches of fat carrots.

I wasn’t originally planning to make them the main event but then had a burst of inspiration to use the whole thing. After a brief internet scare about carrot tops being poisonous (who makes this stuff up?) I decided to make those into pesto and roast the carrots. It’s very easily made vegan and was SUPER filling and satisfying. Will be a regular in the rotation.

Curried Carrots with Carrot Top Pesto

for the carrots

10-12 carrots

1 can coconut milk

1 tsp curry powder

1 onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp chili garlic sauce

for the pesto

1 cup carrot top leaves, rinsed

juice and zest of one lemon

1 clove garlic

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese OR nutritional yeast (for vegan)

1/4 cup nuts- I used macadamia but pine nuts or walnuts would work!

olive oil

First remove the tops, peel the carrots, slice them in half lengthwise and then toss in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast, cut side down, at 375 for an hour.

They will get caramelized on the underside and be soft but not mushy.

While the carrots are roasting you can make the pesto. The carrot tops should be washed, and then you can drag your knife down the stems so you mostly end up with leaves. A few stems are okay but we want to avoid the woody parts down near the base. All the ingredients go into a food processor for a few pulses to combine and start to break down the leaves and the garlic, then you can let it run and stream in the olive oil until it loosens up.

To make the curry sauce, cook the onion and garlic for 5-7 minutes until they start to get soft. Add the curry powder and chili garlic sauce and stir. Add the coconut milk and cook on low heat for 10-12 minutes until it cooks down and thickens.

You’ll transfer the carrots into the curry sauce, and serve over rice (I used this gorgeous black rice!) with the pesto. I also made naan (obviously) and I used vegan sour cream in place of the Greek yogurt and it was just as delicious!

The pesto cuts through the richness of the curry sauce and the carrots somehow take the place of meat. The GS said he normally doesn’t feel full after vegan meals but this one was the exception!

Trust me on this one.