A fabulous freshly cooked carrot salad seasoned with Mediterranean spices drizzling from it.
It is usually served in Israel at homes of Moroccan or Tunsian origin. This is a great way to use up carrots from your fridge. Popular on the Israeli table whenever a variety of appetizer salads are served.
The secret to a wonderful flavor is to sauté all the spices in a pan with olive oil first before adding them to the salad. This opens up your spices to allow the flavors to come out.
Also adding a spice called Harissa is the secret to that special flavor! Harissa is a Moroccan/Tunisian red pepper sauce that is added to so many dishes in the Middle East. You can buy it at many supermarkets in the Mediterranean section. If you cannot find it locally, I have added a link for it at the bottom of the page or you can use a substitute of chilly pepper.
This super healthy salad is a Middle Eastern treat. So delicious, quick and easy to prepare!
Whenever I make it I get asked for the recipe over and over again, I am still reminded by friends who have eaten this salad at my house years ago, that they remember my Israeli carrot salad.
Apart from being so nutritious it adds beautiful color to your appetizer table.
You will not have any left after you serve this to family and guests, I am confident of this.
So here it is, let's get started!
Ingredients:
6 Medium carrots.
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Juice of half a lemon
½ teaspoon of salt, or to your taste. We like food on the salted side
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon Cumin
1 tablespoon Harissa
½ teaspoon black pepper
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
¼ cup of fresh parsley chopped
¼ cup of fresh cilantro chopped
All spices can be adjusted according to your taste. We like more cumin, parsley and cilantro in our Israeli salads, and you can make it more or less spicy, however you like it.
Peel carrots and put whole carrots in a pan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 10 minutes and test with a fork. I prefer to cook my carrots whole rather than slice them first. This keeps the flavor in better. Carrots should be tender enough for the fork to go in but not too soft that they break. If you need to simmer for a little longer, do so.
Drain water from pan and let carrots cool for a short while.
Slice into fairly thin rings but not breakable slices. Place in a bowl.
Heat olive oil in a sauté pan and add the garlic, sauté for a few seconds being careful not to brown the garlic. This happens very fast.
Add all the spices/seasoning except for lemon juice, and stir for a few seconds on very low heat. You can even turn off the heat and stir spices in, the pan will remain hot enough to continue cooking the spices.
Toss all sautéed ingredients into carrots and add the lemon juice.
Give the salad one more light mix with a large spoon being careful not to mush the carrots
and serve with absolutely anything! It will keep well in the refrigerator for 3 days.
This will be one of your star recipes, I promise. Possibly the easiest one too!
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