We have talked about various salads, and we can add dozens of ingredients to make salad. But, what happens when you don't have most of the ingredients on hand, and you don't have time to run to the store? For us, we just omit salad from the menu or we come up with something else to fill that space on the menu. Today, we have a lovely carrot salad that is a five minute dish, and can replace any traditional salad on a menu. We find that we "always" have carrots on hand, so this is an easy substitute for the crunchy lettuce or cucumber. And, carrots are good for you when raw, so let's make them a little fancy and enjoyable!
For this recipe, you will need the following:
1/2 pound carrots, peeled and grated
1/2 lemon -- rind and juice
2 tsp brown sugar
2 T vegetable oil
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp oregano
salt and pepper to taste
Start this by making sure that you have peeled, washed, and shredded the carrots. You can grate them by hand or by machine. We find that grating by hand gives us a much cleaner cut than when done by machine. If your food processor has super sharp blades, then, maybe that will work. When done by hand, you have the choice of long shreds (the length of the carrot), or shorter, slaw-like shreds. Youc an even choose to have a combination.
After grating the carrots, rinse them in a colander. This is because they have some water content, and everything near the carrots will turn orange. Rinse them to remove this possibility, and allow the carrots to dry while you are preparing the dressing. The dressing will take you two minutes to make, so you might end up shaking off the excess water from the rinsed carrots. Try to remove as much water as possible before putting the carrots in a large bowl and adding the dressing.
Mix the sugar and oils together. Add the lemon juice and the lemon rind to the oils. Taste this and adjust the amount of lemon juice. The dressing should taste a little sweet and a little sour. Now, add the oregano, salt, and pepper to taste. It should be a small sprinkling of each -- you don't want any of these flavours to be overwhelming in the final product.
Pour the dressing over the dry, grated carrots. Mix well so all the carrots are coated. Serve just like that. The longer this salad sits, the softer it becomes. It is really like a carrot slaw, so it will keep for three or four days without losing all of the crunchiness. Some folks have added raisins and/or chopped nuts to this salad. We like the simplicity of just carrots, and choosing a garnish of sesame seeds really enhanced the sesame oil flavour. It is one of those delightful aftertastes that lingers a little in your mouth making you want just a little more. You can decide how you like it. For us, this crunchy sweet, sour, and sesame treat compliments any meal.
"Everybody wants to change the world, but nobody thinks about changing himself."
Dostoevsky
Source of quote: http://theodorakis.net/orthodoxquotescomplete.html
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