Roasted carrot & cumin dip

Resistant starches are a direct fuel source for beneficial microbes that live in the gut.
Yup, this is nerdy, so let me translate it.
Our large intestine is full of bacteria. We need them. They are mostly beneficial microbes that convert all the fibre we can’t digest into nutrients for us. It’s a nice little partnership, we just have to do one thing: feed them.
Luckily they love things like roasted veg, whole grains, nuts, seeds and veggies in general.
This roasted carrot and cumin dip is a great source of food for beneficial bacteria owing to the fibre content. It’s delicious on bread or used as a dip for more veg.
It’ll work wonders for your gut health.

Ingredients:
500g carrots, peeled & sliced
1 teaspoon of cumin
2 cloves of garlic, left unpeeled
sea salt and black pepper to season
rapeseed oil for roasting
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Juice of half a lemon

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
Put the sliced carrot & cumin on a roasting tray. Season well with sea salt and black pepper and drizzle over some rapeseed oil.
Roast for 15 minutes.
After the 15 minutes, add the 2 garlic cloves to the same roasting tray and return to the oven for a further 30 minutes until the carrots are fully cooked.
Transfer the carrots to a blender, peel the garlic and add that too, squeeze in the lemon juice, add a good pinch of sea salt, some more black pepper, the olive oil and a splash of water. Blend until completely smooth.
Check the seasoning and add more salt and pepper if required.
Spread on bread or use as a dip.