March 29, 2018
Several years ago, we traveled with our girls to Morocco where we fell in love with the food and spices. About a year later, my dear friend made this Moroccan carrot salad for a brunch and I couldn’t get enough. These days, I make huge batches of this salad for my family to eat throughout the week – about once a month. I also make it for dinner parties or potlucks and EVERY time I bring it somewhere, people ask for the recipe. It is great for dinner, brunch or lunch and it is so good! I think it’s all about the sweet dates…and the salty pistachios…or maybe the limes? Nonetheless, today I’m sharing the recipe (with a couple changes from my friend Darcey who got it from Joy the Baker who got it from The Sprouted Kitchen). The original recipe calls for grating the carrots yourself in a food processor – which for the first year that I made this salad, I never did. I simply bought pre-grated carrots and it was still delicious. But after we grated our fresh garden carrots last summer, I will never buy pre-grated carrots again, ha!
Ingredients:
4 cups (or more) grated carrots
A can of garbanzo beans rinsed and drained
10-12 medjool dates pitted and chopped
4 green onions white and green parts chopped
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
3 tbsp. olive oil
zest and juice of two or three limes
3/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 cup shelled, roasted pistachios, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
In a large bowl combine the carrots, garbanzo beans, chopped dates, green onions, cilantro and chopped pistachios. In another bowl, whisk together olive oil, zest and juice of limes, cumin, nutmeg, turmeric, salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over the carrot mixture and toss to coat. Sprinkle in the feta cheese and toss lightly. Serve immediately or cover and chill in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
