An Exotic Carrot Salad

I knew that with carrots as fresh as the ones in my veg box from Sutton Community Farm, a scheme I waxed lyrical about in my last post, I would have to make some sort of salad with them to make the most of their sweet, just picked flavour. I grated the carrots, nestled them reverentially on a handful of rocket leaves and then made up a dressing which was citrus sweet’n’sour, rich with cumin and humming with a little cayenne pepper. It was delicious!

• Servings: 4 side servings
• Time: :10
• Difficulty: easy
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INGREDIENTS

• 4 carrots, scrubbed. Only peel then if they are not organic or if they are old as the skins can be bitter
• handful of rocket leaves (or use other salad leaves if you have them)
• 5 or 6 toasted walnuts halves
• 1 tsp Za”atar spice mix

For the dressing

• a pinch of salt
• ½ tsp ground roasted cumin seeds
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
• juice of half an small orange
• juice of half a lemon
• 1 Tbsp EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Grate the carrots and place in a salad bowl on top of a handful of rocket leaves.
2. Mix together the ingredients for the dressing – it will be a loose affair rather than an emulsified one. Don’t add all the lemon juice at once though – taste as you go along and adjust the flavours/seasoning to your palate.
3. Pour the dressing over the grated carrots and rocket leaves and toss.
4. Top with crumbled toasted walnuts and the za’atar and toss again.
5. Serve immediately.