How do you get the most out of grocery store carrots? Shred them.
Turns out shredding — not too finely or too coarsely, but juuust right — minimizes the fibrousness of carrots and increases their sweetness, according to cookbook author Christopher Kimball and his “Milk Street: The New Rules: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook” (Little, Brown and Company; $40). Dress them with pistachios, fresh mint and the spice-infused, tangy-sweet dressing below and you’ll never go back to boring carrot salad again.
Milk Street’s Moroccan Carrot Salad
Serves 4
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup dried apricots, thinly sliced
1½ teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted
1 pound carrots, peeled and shredded
½ cup shelled roasted pistachios, toasted and chopped
¾ cup pitted green olives, chopped
½ cup roughly chopped fresh mint, plus more to garnish
Directions:
In a large bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, molasses, turmeric and ½ teaspoon salt. While whisking, slowly pour in the oil. Add the apricots and cumin, then let stand for 5 minutes to allow the apricots to soften.
Add the carrots and stir until evenly coated. Stir in the pistachios, olives and mint. Taste and season with salt and pepper, then transfer to a serving bowl. Sprinkle with additional mint and serve.
— From Christopher Kimball’s “Milk Street: The New Rules” (Little, Brown and Company; $35)
