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.

leftover curry (wink)

I love curries and challenged myself to learn to cook it last year. It was a bumpy road (why, oh why?) but I finally became confident enough to share one with you. This was made of items I already had on hand and isn't based on any established recipe. This combo relies heavily on winter vegetables and mausman curry paste. Bon appetite!

Leftover Curry

1 T. grapeseed oil (or other high smoke point oil)

1 small onion, chopped (100 g)

1 large potato, chopped (285 g)

1 carrot, sliced (70 g)

1 inch ginger, grated (11 g)

4 large cloves garlic, minced (16 g)

1 c. coconut milk

1 c. water

50 g. curry paste, mausman

150 g. chickpeas, cooked

75 g. spinach, frozen

1-2 T. fish sauce

2 T. honey

1. Open windows to get a cross breeze (my smoke detector usually goes off when making curry). Prepare all ingredients - dicing, mincing, and measuring. I like to use my mini chopper for garlic and ginger. You don't have much time when using a wok and need to prepare everything in advance!

2. Preheat wok. When hot add grapeseed oil (one of the highest temp oils) and 'roll' around interior of wok. Add onions and cook until soft. Add potatoes and carrots and cook until until browned. Add grated ginger and minced garlic (or using mini-chopper!). Cook briefly until scented.

3. Add coconut milk and an equal amount of water. Stir well and add curry paste. Stir to dissolve into liquid. Add chickpeas and spinach. Add fish sauce (which smells awful, but adds umami) and honey. Most recipes call for sugar, but I prefer honey. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until potatoes are cooked through. Serve with brown rice.

hummus

Ever since I finally found dried chickpeas last summer (now I seem to find them everywhere!) I have intended to make hummus. I finally decided to give it a go and found this recipe. The only 'hard part' was hulling the beans. Many of the hulls came off in the cooking process, but most did not. Next time I'm going to rub them between clean towels to remove them (instead of individually). I love eating hummus as a vegetable dip, especially with carrots, but with homemade pitas- that is what I call trouble, with a capital T.

roasted roots

Another tasty way to prepare my stash of parsnips is to roast them. Parsnips are super sweet and full of flavor when roasted. I mixed them with some other roots including onions, carrots, garlic, and huckleberry potatoes (a pink heirloom potato from Oregon). The exact quantities were determine a bit by what I had on hand (I probably would have added a few more carrots and another onion). Douse with olive oil, salt, and pepper and then roast in a medium oven.

Roasted Roots

4 potatoes

3 parsnips

2 carrots

1 head garlic

1 onion

2-3 T. olive oil

1 t. salt

pepper, freshly ground

Clean, chop, and peel (if desired) all veggies and place in large baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Mix. Roast (375 deg. F) in oven for 30-45 minutes until done, stirring periodically. Enjoy! Reheats well.

spicy kale and white bean soup

Soup is one of the easiest genres of food to throw together - maybe that's not really true (salads, anyone?). Sometimes I use another recipe as a guide, but once you pick up the concepts, it's pretty easy to rummage around the fridge and pantry and come up with a soup.

This was a bit of a rummage - kale, carrots, and squash? I always have garlic and onions in the pantry and broth in the freezer .. I was out of white beans so when I went to the store I picked up a couple of pounds. When I was at the store I picked up a loaf of fresh organic bread - always a great accompaniment to soup.

Kale and white bean soup:

olive oil

1 onion, sliced

garlic - lots, whole or large chop

1 c. chopped carrots

1 lb. white beans, soaked and cooked

6-8 c. vegetable stock

1 bunch kale, washed and chopped

1 med yellow squash, sliced

salt & pepper, to taste

1+ T. chili powder

Heat olive oil over medium heat and add onion. Cooked until translucent and add carrots and garlic. Cover and sweat the carrots for 10 minutes. Add white beans and vegetable stock. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Add kale. Cook for another 5 minutes, or until it is tender. Add the squash and spices (as desired). Add more stock/water as needed.

Serve with red pepper flakes or jalapeno cheese. Enjoy!

carrot top + barley soup

I got these beautiful sweet nante carrots in my bin this week and decided to make carrot top soup. I created this recipe for a light meal; it can eaily be hefted up with some potatoes, chicken, or white beans. The peppery flavor of the carrot top is the predominate flavor in this soup.

Carrot Top + Barley Soup

3 T. extra virgin olive oil

1 medium red onion, diced

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 medium carrots, chopped (wash and no need to peel)

3+ cloves garlic, sliced

1/2 t. sea salt

1/2 t. fresh ground black pepper

6-7 c. vegetable broth

1/2 c. pearl barley

1+ c. carrot tops, chopped and well washed

fresh grated parmesan cheese, to serve

Cook red onion, celery, carrots, and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until translucent (about 5 minutes). Add broth, barley, and salt + pepper. Keep at low boil for 35 minutes, or until barley is nearly cooked (may need to add more stock/water during this time). Add carrot tops (can include stems, but make sure are well chopped) and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Add grated cheese to serve.

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.