Classic Moroccan Carrot Salad

Electric orange rounds of slightly sweet carrot marry perfectly with cumin, lemon juice, and garlic. Visually appetizing on a buffet of Sephardic mezze, great with summer barbecues, Moroccan carrot salad is versatile and easy to prepare.

Many times, the carrots in versions I have tasted are too soft and beginning to disintegrate.  You should only cook the carrots for 8 minutes in boiling water, in order to leave them ‘just cooked’ not to soft.  Thank you to my Israeli friend Nina for the basic recipe.

8 large carrots, peeled
1/ 4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 large cloves garlic, finely minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon  jalapeño pepper, finely minced
1/ 4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/ 4 cup olive oil
1/ 4 cup parsley, finely chopped
2 tablespoons , finely chopped fresh cilantro

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Place whole carrots in boiling water and cook until just cooked through (not too soft), about 8 minutes. Test by pushing a thin knife through carrot. It should go through with just a little bit of resistance. Drain carrots immediately and set them aside to cool.

When  carrots are cool, slice them in one quarter inch thick circles. Place carrots in a medium salad bowl.  Place salad dressing ingredients in a separate pitcher or measure. When you are choosing garlic make sure to choose cloves that are firm and almost crisp with absolutely no green shoots coming out. If there are green shoots coming out garlic, it does not have a good flavor.

Stir  dressing ingredients together. Pour dressing over  carrots and toss. The carrot salad is best of made a few hours ahead of time and allowed to sit in refrigerator. Leftovers keep for a few days.