Community love + roasted carrots with tahini Ranch, pickled onions, and herbs
Oh man, we love you.
Hi! We love you!
We really really seriously do love you. In fact, we’re so overcome by how much we love you that it feels hard to explain in words (so of course, we’ve chosen to write about it!).
We want to make sure that everyone in LA who came out to Melody Wine Bar the other weekend and waited in line, or bought one of everything, or even just popped their head in the kitchen to say hi knows that your support is not lost on us. We feel it intensely with every like, post, and order. We feel it when you respond to these emails, or when you send us pictures of the meals you’ve made following our recipes. We’re bolstered by it and inspired by the amount of kindness and generosity we’ve been shown by not only our lifelong friends who show up at every fry, but also by the newfound community of friends and peers that we’ve found ourselves surrounded by.
We really have been so immensely lucky.
In part, of course, because much of what we’ve been able to do is a gift given to us by being born with the privilege to take professional risks, knowing that in the end, we have support and will be okay. This is a huge barrier to entry that we never had to overcome.
But we’ve struck gold in our loved ones — in the Little Fish community. Our friends have been the silent, behind-the-scenes powerhouses that have allowed us to make something we’re so proud of. We are showered with support (both emotional and logistical) without which we’d be 10 steps behind. Our community who folds boxes, washes dishes, runs errands, takes photos, edits newsletters, helps us with our ordering system, and envisions next steps do so without being asked — and without asking to be included in the by-line.
There’s not much left to say other than that our hearts are so full and we find ourselves wondering what we did to deserve all of these people. We will work hard to earn them, and to return the love and support to you that you’ve shown to us. We always wanted it to be more than just food, but about community support, and you’ve shown up for us beyond our wildest imaginations.
We’re tackling side dishes again this week, and below is a recipe for roasted carrots with tahini Ranch, pickled onions, and herbs. We served it at Melody and we think you’ll really like it.
Love you. Mean it.
Roasted carrots with tahini Ranch, pickled onions, and herbs
Tahini Ranch
Ingredients
1 cup tahini (We use the Soom.)
¼ cup lemon juice
¾ cup water
1 clove of grated garlic (microplaned if you can — if not, minced as finely as possible)
1 tablespoon maple syrup
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup chopped dill
½ cup chopped parsley
Salt to taste
Directions
Whisk tahini and lemon juice. Slowly add water while whisking. Add the rest of the ingredients and whisk to combine. Add more water if needed to get the consistency of a Greek yogurt.
Carrots
Ingredients
1 bunch of rainbow carrots, scrubbed
½ cup of olive oil
Salt
Directions
Pre-heat oven to 400°. Cut carrots into bite size pieces. (We do ours on a bias/diagonal which we think looks pretty.) Toss carrots in olive oil and salt and spread on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper. Roast until tender, about 35-45 minutes.
Pickled red onion
Ingredients
1 red onion
1 cup red wine vinegar
½ cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Directions
Slice onion and place in small metal bowl. Bring vinegar, water, sugar, and salt up to a boil in a small saucepan and then carefully pour over cut onion. Make sure all of the onion is submerged and let cool at room temp.
Herb mix for topping + assembly
Ingredients
Equal parts picked parsley, cilantro, and dill. If you don’t like cilantro you can sub with mint.
1 lemon
Directions
Spoon a generous amount of the tahini dressing onto the bottom of a plate or bowl. Arrange roasted carrots on top of the dressing — these can be served at room temp or warmed. Place pickled red onion across the carrots so you will get one with every bite. Top with the herb mix and finish with olive oil and fresh squeezed lemon.
If you make a recipe from our newsletter, please tag us in pictures! Feel free to respond to these emails with questions, comments or requests. You can find us on instagram at @littlefish_echopark.
Love,
Little Fish