Spicy Carrot Salad

🌟 About This Recipe

• This is an easy side dish that can be prepared in advance making it good for meal prepping.
• This middle eastern carrot salad is a great summer or fall dish that you can take to pot lucks, picnics and barbecues.
• It's vegetarian and vegan friendly and gluten-free too.

🥘 Ingredients

Please note that below is a guide for some of the ingredients we used in the recipe. The printable recipe further down the page has the complete list of ingredients, including quantities and step-by-step instructions.

Carrots - Pick fresh-looking carrots for the best flavor. Avoid using carrots that are too old and limp and with black spots. 

Can't get fresh carrots? Use frozen carrots such as diced, baby whole carrots, or slices. 

Parsley - use fresh curly or flat-leaf parsley to give the salad a peppery taste with a touch of earthiness. 

Cumin powder - is a common spice used in Mediterranean cooking and adds a warm, rich and hearty flavor to dishes.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Red wine vinegar - are the base for the salad dressing. We have used an equal amount of olive oil and vinegar for the salad dressing. But if you don't like vinegar reduce the amount or, replace it to taste with either fresh lemon or orange juice.

Garlic - if you don't like garlic, leave it out and if fresh garlic does not agree with you, use garlic powder and add it to taste.

Harissa powder - is a spice blend made often used in Moroccan cooking, you can buy it from most supermarkets and specialty stores, but if you can't get it, you can make Harrisa seasoning at home.

Salt and ground black pepper (optional) 

🍳 Instructions

Step 1 - Peel and slice the carrots.

Step 2 -  In a medium-size saucepan bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Add the sliced carrots and a little salt to the water and cook until tender. Remove the carrots from the heat and drain. Rinse the carrots under cold water and drain well and allow the carrots to cool slightly. 

Step 3 - While the carrots are cooking, place the chopped parsley, cumin, olive oil, vinegar, and garlic into a large bowl. Mix well and season to taste with the harissa and salt and pepper.

Step 4 - Add the warm and drained carrots to the salad dressing in the bowl, toss well. 

Step 5 - You can serve the salad warm or cold, and when ready to serve, transfer the carrot salad to a serving dish and garnish it with olives and sliced hard-boiled eggs.

💭 Recipe Tips

Cutting the carrots - For this spicy carrot salad, we cut the carrots into thin rounds for quicker cooking. However, you could make them larger and chunkier in size or cut them into thick batons or cubes. 

Regardless of what shape you cut the carrots into, they should all be about the same size to ensure even cooking,

Don't overcook the carrots - Cook the carrots until they are just tender and still slightly firm. If you overcook the carrots, they will break up when tossed with the dressing.

📖 Variations

Use this spicy carrot salad as a base and mix it up for variety with any of the following ingredients:

Add raisins or other dried fruit like sultanas or craisins for mouth full of sweetness.

To Rehydrate ¼ cup of raisins in 2 - 3 tablespoons of fresh orange or lemon juice for about 10 - 20 minutes before adding to the salad.

Add cumin seeds - You could add about ¼ - ½ teaspoon of toasted cumin seeds. Cumins seeds have a slightly sweet, nutty, and warm flavor and make a great addition to this Moroccan carrot salad.

To toast cumin seeds: place them into a dry frying pan and over medium-low heat for 3-4 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally. They are ready when they smell fragrant and are slightly darker in color. 

As soon as they are toasted, remove them from the hot pan and into a small plate or bowl because if you leave them in the hot frying pan, they will continue to cook and burn, making them bitter. 

Add other herbs - for variety, use finely chopped fresh mint or fresh coriander (cilantro) instead of parsley. You could even use a combination of these herbs.

Add feta cheese - Before serving the salad, garnish it with crumbled Greek feta cheese.

👪 Serving Size

This recipe makes 6, 83 gram (2.92 ounce) servings.

🍬 Calories Per Serve

Each serving is about 154 calories.

🥗 Serving Suggestions

This salad carrot salad goes well with grilled, barbecued, or baked meats and fish.

🌡️ Storage

This spicy carrot salad can be made in advance and will keep well in the fridge for up to five days.

To store in the fridge, place the salad in an air-tight container or tightly cover the bowl in plastic

🌽 More Veggie Recipes

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• Greek tomato and cucumber salad
• Broccoli cauliflower salad
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• Spicy Asian carrot salad