moroccan carrot salad

Although I love lettuce salads, I want a little variety and carrots are especially good this time of year (unlike the greens which are usually shipped up from Mexico in February). This is spiced with Moroccan flavors of cumin, coriander, and olives.

It also reminds me of the French grated salads. I prefer not to use a box grater on this salad because it turns to mush (I like the crunch of carrots!) but if you have a device that does small julienne use it, I just pull out my sharpest knife.

moroccan carrot salad:

1 lb. carrots, scrubbed and/or peeled

1/2 shallot, finely diced

1 garlic clove, minced

1 t. cumin

1 t. coriander

red pepper flakes

1 lemon, juiced

olive oil

olives

lime

cilantro

salt + pepper

1. Julienne the carrots. Place in a large bowl and sprinkle with salt. Add shallot, garlic, cumin, coriander, red pepper flakes, and lemon juice. Let rest.

2. Add olive oil to coat and adjust seasonings.

3. Garnish with olives, cilantro, and lime.

mock moroccan mint tea.

When in Morocco you will drink mint tea, also known as Moroccan whisky, at least three times a day. It is drunk with each meal and during most social encounters.

The tea is a delight. The heat, the refreshing mint, and the sugar. When it is extremely hot, hot drinks are actually refreshing (making the air around you feel cooler) and you also need a lot of sugar (and salt) to compensate for all the sweating. When you're in the cool pacific northwest you don't need all that sugar or the heat so this is an iced and lightly sweetened version of the mint tea found in Morocco.

mock moroccan mint tea

makes 2 quarts

3-4 c. water, boiling

4 black tea bags, tied together with tags removed

1-2 sprigs of mint (about 4")

2 cubes of sugar

1 tray ice cubes

Place tea, mint, and sugar in 2 quart pitcher. Pour boiling water over mixture and let steep for 5-10 minutes. Remove tea bags and mint. Add ice to tea and fill pitcher with cold water. Stir and place in fridge. Enjoy with ice!

moroccan salads

A couple of summers ago I spent a month in Morocco traveling and eating. Typically with your meal you chose a salade au maroc or harira. I (nearly) always chose the soup and craved the salad. I was warned to avoid uncooked foods, and although the salad was mostly cooked it wasn't completely. You see their are some issues with water for foreigners (but if you spend a lot of time their you can learn to stomach des microbes). My first meal outside of Morocco (in Madrid) was a giant salad and since then I have been making my own version of salade au maroc at home. 

What I saw was an artists palette of veggies. As a base were greens, topped with cold (canned?) tuna in the center, surrounded by a boiled egg, potato salad, carrot salad, beet salad, and tomato salad. This was fairly consistent at every restaurant (my traveling companion ordered many salads and was the worse for wear). Each salad is cooked with a dressing (with the exception the tomato, which was not cooked) and then served cold. 

My favorite salad is the potato, which surprised me in Morocco as I have never been a fan of potato salad. The recipe I have is for boiled baby potatoes and a dressing made of red onions, garlic, saffron (soaked in water), white wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, cilantro (coriander), mint, and salt n' pepper.