Remember our hugging carrots? (Actually, it now looks like a strangling carrot. Wow—I need to quit looking at it. Looks a bit perverse.)
We still have a plethora of carrots—I am talking three full plastic shopping bags full. I have made two carrot cakes, two batches of muffins, hummus and carrot wraps, and numerous carrot salads. But, I am always on the hunt for a better carrot recipe.
I found this unique salad at 101 Cookbooks.
For the original recipe, click here. (I omitted the almonds and dates, added more carrots, and doubled the dressing.)
Moroccan Carrot and Chickpea Salad with Mint and Chives
2 T. cumin seeds
2/3 c. extra virgin olive oil
1/4 c. fresh lemon juice
2 T. local honey
1 t. fine sea salt
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
1 lb. grated carrots
15 oz. canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/3 c. fresh mint, torn
2 T. fresh chives, choppedMake dressing:
Toast cumin seeds in a dry skillet until fragrant (1-2 minutes). Let cool. Grind in a spice grinder.Place ground cumin seeds, olive oil, lemon juice, honey, salt and cayenne in a blender and pulse until incorporated and emulsified. Set aside.
In a serving bowl, combine the carrots, chickpeas, mint, chives and dressing. Gently toss until everything is evenly coated. Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Remove from refrigerator thirty minutes before serving.
We had a graduation celebration cook-out to attend and I took this salad. (Friends’ kids are starting to graduate from high school—we are getting old!)
Everyone but The Hubs loved it. There was too much mint in the salad for him. “All I got was a mouthful of mint.”
To qualify, we are not big mint fans. I even decreased the amount of mint called for in the original recipe.
This salad, however, would be delicious with any herbs. (That is why I added the chives.) I am definitely keeping this recipe in our archives. 🙂
(Can you tell I found PicMonkey?)
Please post more carrot pics. And as many recipes with chickpeas as you can. My new addiction!
I am a chickpea fiend too.
Sounds wonderful. I think I would like it with cilantro too. Love those carrots, so cute, I certainly wouldn’t have the heart to eat that one!
Oh, cilantro would be perfect in this.
I’ve yet to find a carrot recipe that Dudette will embrace. She says she just doesn’t like them cooked (and will barely eat them raw). I’ll take them any way I can get them. I’d probably leave out the mint too, but otherwise this looks delicious.
What, no carrot cake? Like the cilantro idea that Chris had.
Sounds like an excellent, healthy salad that would be perfect for picnics and pot lucks!
I will definitely make this again.
Moroccan salads can be great. There are hundreds of recipes for ones using carrots, but this one looks particularly nice. Good stuff – thanks.
I will have to google them.
I need to use picmonkey – I hope it’s easy! The recipe looks great and I love carrots and chickpeas! Such a nice summery dish.
Kelli, if I can use pic monkey so can you. 🙂
We eat lots of carrot salad! This is a simple and nice one.
Nice and healthy and relatively easy to put together.
This simple but looks healthy and tasty 😀
Cheers
CCU
Thanks, Uru.
You aren’t getting old until your grandchildren graduate from university. 🙂
I love this salad and the Moroccan flavors would suit me just fine.
You are kind, Maureen. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
[…] her little sister in Tulsa. It was an excuse for another family celebration. I took the Moroccan Carrot and Chickpea Salad to our last little family get-together. I needed to up the ante a bit and take something else […]