The mint and cumin make this salad nicely herbed and spiced. I thought about just grating the carrots in the food processor, but thought I’d try making the whisper thin disks. I’m glad I did. These were extra crunchy and only took about 10 minutes to slice them all on the mandoline, really. I didn’t even peel the carrots. When using the mandoline, remember to not cut the top off of the carrot first. This will be your handle as you get down to the last nub of carrot, then you just throw it away.
We’ve tried a lot of different chickpeas and have determined that organic canned ones are the best/easiest. I think I mentioned this before, but we tried boiling dried chickpeas once and we didn’t think they tasted any different from the canned.
Adapted from 101 cookbooks.
Ingredients
makes 5 servings
- ~2 lbs carrots, shredded on a box grater or sliced whisper thin on a mandolin
- 1 can chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
- 2/3 cup dried cranberries
- 1/3 cup fresh mint, chopped
- 1/2 cup pistachios/sunflower seeds
- 1 romaine heart, sliced into ribbons
Dressing:
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
To make the dressing, first toast the cumin seeds in a dry skillet until fragrant and lightly browned, a minute or two. Let cool, and grind to a powder with a mortar and pestle.
In a bowl or jar, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, ground cumin, salt, and cayenne pepper. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine the carrots, chickpeas, dried cranberries, mint, romaine, and nuts. Gently toss until everything is evenly coated.
