Moroccan Carrot Salad

One of the few places I'm surprisingly able to eat at by my office is Maoz. I first discovered the chain while living abroad in Madrid 10 years ago, and much to my surprise, it's still very good. (Admittedly, I'm very wary of chains...eeek). But, they have plenty of GF options and their salad bar is very clearly labeled, uses separate tongs for each salad, and has a very high turnover so I find everything to always be very fresh.

One of my favorite salads that they sever is a carrot salad that I recently tried to recreate. I honestly have no clue what they use to prepare their version, and though this didn't taste exactly the same, I was really pleased with the end results. Quickly steaming the carrots ahead of time made them more tender and easier to eat, but you could certainly skip this step to save time.

you'll need...

6 large carrots, scrubbed and ends trimmed (peeled if desired) 1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil 1 tablespoon of ground cumin (if you're a fan of the spice, feel free to add a bit more) 1/4 cup of fresh mint leaves, julienned salt and pepper to taste

to make...

Slice carrots on the diagonal, doing your best to keep them uniform in thickness so them steam evenly. Steam until just tender—don't overcook. They should be easy to stab with a knife, without being mushy. Once cooled, place in a bowl and coat with olive oil. Add cumin, salt and pepper and toss again. Add the mint leaves and toss once more. Enjoy immediately or refrigerate for later. Will keep for at least 2-3 days.

#carrots #mint #vegetarian #vegan #glutenfree #salad #sidedish