Carrots and Cumin Salad – Refreshing and Gorgeous

Last night, I drew inspiration from my spice containers and made a carrot salad tossed in cumin, cayenne and cilantro. By adding an additional brightness of olive oil, fresh garlic and fresh cilantro – this dish came to life. All it took was some thoughtfulness and minimal effort and these carrots were ‘actually present’ on last nights dinner table. Lightly sweet from the carrots, aromas pointing to the mysterious East and garlic and lemon to provide hum and zing – who could possibly say no to those?

The dish is very quick and simple to put together. However, to really get the most from it, cook the carrots until they are tender, dress them whilst they are still warm (breaking down the cell walls from boiling will help other flavors to penetrate) and let them sit at room temperature for a couple of hours.

Recipe For Carrot And Cumin Salad

Ingredients

1lb carrots, peeled and sliced in to wedges

½ tsp. ground cumin

¼ tsp. cayenne pepper

2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice and ½ the zest of 1 lemon

2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp. finely chopped cilantro

Salt to taste

Method

1) In a large pot of salty water, bowl the carrot wedges until barely tender

2) Make a dressing with the spices, lemon juice and zest, olive oil and cilantro

3) Toss the carrots gently in dressing, cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 2 hours

Saira Malhotra, is of British–Indian descent and is a chef, food writer and cooking instructor based in New York City. Raised in Hounslow, U.K, or rather ‘Little India’, where the air is aromatic with roasted spices, little did Saira know these moments would follow her from being a student in France and Italy to residing in NYC with her husband and kids and parlay themselves unexpectedly in to a culinary career. She is a graduate of the International Culinary Center in New York City. Come visit her at her food blog: www.passportpantry.com where she shares approachable and international recipes