Salad
- 8 cups (loose) shredded purple and orange carrots
- 1 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 cup chopped parsley
- 1 cup chiffonaded mint
- 1 cup scallions cut on the bias, greens included
- 1 cup cooked red quinoa
- ¾ cup toasted pistachios
- 1 cup Ruby dates, pitted and chopped (Medjool work, too)
- 1 cup thinly sliced mandarinquats
- ¼ cup thinly sliced kumquats
- Sea salt and pepper
Vinaigrette
- 1 teaspoon baharat
- Juice of 4 lemons
- Juice of 1 orange
- 1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup
- ¾ cup olive oil
Moroccan Carrot Salad
Makes 10-12 appetizer-sized servings
Hands down, this is one of the best dinner party dishes in our arsenal. It comes together in a snap and can be easily adapted if you don’t have everything on hand.
As Stefon would say, this salad has everything: color, crunch, and chew; tart, sweet and saline. It’s light enough to serve as an appetizer and stands on its own as a main.
Baharat is a Middle Eastern spice blend that takes a variety of forms depending on its origins. Most of the time it includes a combination of black pepper, coriander, cumin and a mishmash of warming spices (cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice). If you have a full spice drawer, it’s worth making yourself a batch. In a pinch? We’ve got suggestions for substitutions below.
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Instructions
Toss all of the salad ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well with your hands. Season liberally with salt and pepper and toss again.
In a jar with a lid, add the baharat, lemon and orange juices, and honey or maple syrup. Mix well. Pour in olive oil, close the lid, and shake it like you mean it (until the vinaigrette is glossy and emulsified). Season with lots of salt. It should strike a balance of sweet, tart and saline.
Pour vinaigrette over the salad and mix with your hands so everything is thoroughly coated. Give it a taste. Is it delicious? Your work here is done. If it’s missing something, it’s likely more vinaigrette. These delicate salads are super absorbent, so take a more is more attitude here. You can’t mess up.
The salad is best eaten the day it’s made, otherwise you risk sogginess. Undressed, it’ll last a couple days in the fridge.
Don’t have everything on hand? No need to freak out. Simply substitute:
• Another toasted nut, like almonds or walnuts, for pistachios
• Currants or figs for dates
• Basil for mint
• An equal parts black pepper, coriander and cinnamon for baharat
• More kumquats plus some orange segments for mandarinquats (which are larger and sweeter than a kumquat, and smaller than a mandarin)