Why is it that you put the carrots in water before it boils. Wouldn't that take the flavor out of the carrots and into the water? Wouldn't putti...

I was actually wondering why they are boiled at all instead of roasted the whole way through. Also, I often find that my roasted carrots have an unpleasant carroty taste. They're not rotten, but sometimes the flavor s just carroty in the not greatest way. Does that ring a bell with anyone. Thanks again for this recipe. This is one of my favorite salads and the first thing I had when I fell in love with ABC Kitchen.

What Amanda and ChrisBird said!

heat management is all about getting the interior of the good to the temp we want without over cooking the outside. Since root vegetables are often cut into largeish pieces, we want the chunks to all come up to temp at the same time.

The general rule with root vegetables is to put them in water first and bring the water to a boil -- the idea being that it allows time for the heat to cook the interior without overcooking the exterior. Hope this makes sense.