North African Carrot Salad

A North African Carrot Salad that’s a quick and easy side that goes well with rice, grain, or couscous dishes.

In Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria there are two types of carrot salad; one is made using sliced, cooked carrots, and the other is made using shredded, raw carrots, like this recipe below. Ingredients vary but most recipes usually contain lemon, olive oil, herbs, and spices. This recipe can also be adjusted to suit your preferences. You can swap cilantro for the parsley or dried cherries or figs for the raisins, or grapefruit for the orange. You can even make it more filling and nutritious by throwing in some cooked chickpeas, black-eyed peas, black beans, etc. It always comes out great.

I always have a huge bag of carrots in the fridge and most of the other ingredients are staples in my kitchen as well, so it’s a perfect last minute salad. You can even make it ahead of time and keep it in the fridge until you’re ready for it.

I use a mandolin slicer with a julienne blade to slice the carrots but a food processor with a shredder attachment or even a simple box grater works very well, too. You can even make it ahead of time and keep it in the fridge until you’re ready for it. The acid and salt in the dressing makes the raw carrots more tender but still chewy.

North African Carrot Salad

 

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A North African Carrot Salad that's a quick and easy side that goes well with rice, grain, or couscous dishes.

Author: Lands & Flavors

Ingredients

• 6 cups shredded carrots (around 10-12 carrots)
• 2 oranges, supremed
• ¼ cup chopped parsley
• 4-5 sprigs mint, leaves removed
• 2 Tablespoons raisins (I like golden raisins)
• 3 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil
• ¾ teaspoon cumin
• 1 Tablespoon harissa paste
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• black pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Put the shredded carrots, supremed oranges, parsley, mint, and raisins in a mixing bowl.
2. Add the lemon juice, olive oil, cumin, harissa, salt, and pepper to the salad and mix thoroughly until completely combined. Let the salad sit for 5 minutes to exude more juices, taste for seasoning, and serve immediately or store in an airtight container in the fridge until ready.

Notes

-Swap out the raisins for another dried fruit you have. Cherries, figs, or cranberries would be nice. You can also replace the parsley with cilantro.

-To give the salad a nice zing, add some chopped preserved lemon if you have it.

-If you don't have any homemade harissa paste, you don't have to go out and buy some. Just substitute it by adding 1 teaspoon of paprika, ¼ teaspoon of coriander, and an additional ¼ teaspoon of cumin to the salad.

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