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!
An Exotic Carrot Salad
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
- Grate the carrots and place in a salad bowl on top of a handful of rocket leaves.
- 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.
- Pour the dressing over the grated carrots and rocket leaves and toss.
- Top with crumbled toasted walnuts and the za’atar and toss again.
- Serve immediately.
