This salad is loosely inspired by a carrot salad I ate during a trip to Morocco a couple of years ago. It was part of our first night’s dinner… a hot night (114 degrees!) on the rooftop of our Riad at sunset. There were marinated vegetable salads, flatbreads, tagines, and a bottle of moroccan rose… all while the evening prayer chanted over a loudspeaker in the distance. We might as well have been on another planet, it felt so surreal. Yet, one of the things I remember most about that night was the carrot salad.
Recently, J.R. Watkins asked me to create a dish using their new line of dried herbs and spices. Since I already buy their natural home products (package designs to die for), I was super excited to try the spices. Immediately, I knew it was time to make a version of that carrot salad. Beautiful local spring carrots, big squeezes of lemon, and fresh mint perfectly balance the aromatic herbs and spices. I also added some sweet currants, toasted almonds, and some chickpeas and couscous to make it a full meal.
Special thanks to J.R. Watkins for partnering on this post.
