I was following a recipe on Smitten Kitchen and, as promised, the salad incited more excitement than I imagined capable of a heap of carrots. I ate nearly the entire salad myself, saving a small bowl for Ben, who devoured it as enthusiastically and quickly upon walking through the door after work. If you have a food processor to shred the carrots and a jar of harissa, homemade or otherwise, on hand, the salad comes together in no time, and it can be adapted in many ways. My favorite variation includes sliced avocado and olive oil-fried toast, but I’ve also served it atop a smear of lemony yogurt sauce, and I’ve also folded in feta, as suggested in the original recipe. In short, adapt the recipe to your tastes and preferences. As alluded to above, I find this salad completely addictive, and it’s making me especially excited for the summer CSA carrots. But it also makes me wonder, what other vegetables could we shred and toss with this warm harissa-spiked dressing? Raw beets? Raw sweet potatoes? Turnips? Cabbage? Keep me posted if you make any discoveries. PS: Homemade Harissa (So good and easy! I use the recipe from the Jerusalem cookbook, which calls for using fresh red bell peppers as opposed to dried chilies. I could spoon this harissa over anything.) PPS: Two more condiments to serve with your carrot salad: Skhug (So good: it’s essentially, a green, uncooked harissa.) Dukkah (A blend of toasty spices.) Here’s a play-by-play. Gather 3/4 lbs. carrots: no need to peel! Send them down the food chute of your food processor with the shredder attachment in place. Gather the remaining ingredients: The hardest part: mincing a clove or two of garlic; juicing a lemon or two; finely chopping some herbs. Place all of your sauce ingredients in a little saucepan: Bring it to a sizzle, and cook for one to two minutes. Add fresh lemon juice off the heat. Toss the carrots with the warm harissa dressing: Add chopped cilantro or parsley or mint or a combination of all three: Toss again: Serve with avocado on the side as well as a slice of toast: It’s especially good all mixed together. Yum. 4.8 from 11 reviews I’ve been making this with homemade harissa, which varies in spiciness every time I make it depending on the heat of the chilies. Typically, it is less spicy than store-bought brands, which is why I can use as much as 1/4 cup in this recipe. You may only need a teaspoon or less depending on the harissa you are using. Feel free to use whatever prepared harissa you like, though I highly recommend making it from scratch. It is so good and relatively easy. Watch a harissa how-to on Instagram stories. Also watch a harissa-carrot salad how-to in Stories. Use whatever herbs you like best. The original recipe calls for mint, which would be delicious. A combination of herbs would be nice, too. The original recipe calls for feta, which would be delicious. I’ve also served it atop a smear of yogurt sauce as in this roasted cauliflower with skhug recipe.
