Moroccan carrot salad

Heirloom carrots from the Capital Region Farmers Market

I was very excited to see multi coloured carrots at the farmers market on Saturday. Apparently, long ago carrots came in all different colours. Originating in Afghanistan thousands of years ago, carrots probably began as purple or yellow roots. Purple, yellow and white carrots were imported to Europe in the 14^th century, and widely grown into the 17^th century. Orange carrots first appeared in Holland in the 16^th century, but it took several centuries for them to become the dominant variety. We were asked to bring an international dish for Melbourne Cup lunch at the office, so I decided to make Moroccan carrot salad for lunch and take some minted couscous. I figured it would be a lovely vegetarian addition to the table, and I could make it vegan too. Normally this salad would be made with grated carrot, but I wanted something far more effective than that, so I cut my purple, white and orange carrots into ribbons. The effect was exactly what I was looking for.

Serves 4-6 as a side

1	clove	garlic
1		fresh green chilli
1	teaspoon	mustard seeds
1/4	teaspoon	salt
1	teaspoon	ground cumin
2	teaspoons	sweet paprika
1/2	teaspoon	chilli powder
2	teaspoons	olive oil
1/2		orange, zest and juice
2-3		medium sized purple carrots
2-3		medium sized white carrots
2-3		medium sized orange carrots

To make the dressing, pound the garlic, chilli and mustard seeds in a mortar and pestle with the salt. Then add the cumin, paprika and chilli powder. Combine with the olive oil before adding the orange zest and juice. The dressing can be made in advance, but the purple carrots will bleed, so keep them separate till just before serving.

Moroccan carrot salad

To make the salad, top and tail your carrots and peel if desired. Using the long blade on your vegetable grater, slice the carrots into ribbons. Then, using your kitchen knife, cut them into strips the width of linguine. Make sure you keep each different coloured carrot separate until just before serving.

To serve, combine the carrot with the dressing, mixing thoroughly. Arrange on a serving plate by taking bunches of the carrot, and laying them atop each other in a star shape. Serve with minted couscous.