When I go to French bistros, I love to get this classic grated carrot salad. It’s always served heaped tall on a plate, finished with roughly-chopped cilantro. And I eat all of it. Its flavor is earthy from the cumin and acidic from the lemon juice. And it smells as awesome as it tastes.
I feel raw carrots are undervalued as a central figure in salads. They’re often simply a garnish, or they’re laden with cream or quite often they’re roasted. But raw carrots hold onto dressing well, and their inherent sweetness offers quite a nice canvas to work with!
There are many ways to grate carrots. Probably the quickest (and safest) is in a food processor with a grater blade—safe, that is, if you don’t touch the edges of the blade! Alternatively, a box grater is more time-consuming but it works well, too. Lastly you could grate by hand with the same peeler you might use to peel the carrots when you wash them. In addition to your grater of choice, all you need for this recipe is are a couple bowls and a whisk (my favorite tool!). Enjoy, and leave a comment below if you try it!
An authentic carrot salad straight out of a French bistro.
15 Minutes
15 Minutes
Add grated carrots and chopped cilantro to a bowl, and add salt. Mix. In a small bowl, whisk lemon juice through cumin. Slowly add oil to emulsify. Add dressing (you may not need all of it, in which case use the rest of the dressing on bread or crudités!) to carrots/cilantro. Taste for salt. Best served room temperature.
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