Saturday, April 24, 2010

Got Carrot Salad? Got 20 Minutes?

 I love stuff that's fast and easy. These are the recipes that are lifesavers especially when  "stuff" happens, for lack of a better word. Dishes that are versatile, and inexpensive to prepare and can be prepared ahead of time are even better. I was looking for that sort of  thing this week, after the whole Film Festival craziness and then Alan's eye surgery (he's doing great btw).
 We started the week off with cold cold temperatures and hail and are ending it with this.....
  80 degrees and the lilies are blooming.

What to do, what to do? Soup, stews, or something cooling??? I found the answer in a special sale on organic carrots at Sonoma Market, and book that Paula Wolfert gave me called the Salads of India by Varsha Dandekar.
This little paperback is amazing and I think I'm going to be getting quite a lot of use out of it. Since I had carrots I thought I'd see what Varsha Dandekar  had to say about them. I had cauliflower left over from lunch the day before and I decided to pair it with a lovely cooling carrot salad. This is what I did.
  Take one bunch of medium carrots, about 4 or 5. Peel and chop them . Steam them for about 20 minutes or so, until they are cooked through and tender.
   Mash the carrots.                    
  Add in :
1 cup of yogurt
1/4 tsp of salt                   
1/4 tsp of sugar
1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper..or to taste.
 
Mix it in well.
In a separate pan heat:
2 Tbs of butter
When it's hot and sizzling add in
1/2 tsp of cumin seeds.
When the seeds get aromatic and turn color they're done.
Mix the butter and cumin seeds into the carrot salad mixture.
Garnish with some chopped cilantro and put in the fridge to chill.
 This can be made a head of time and it's is absolutely delicious. Perfect for a cooling spring or summer lunch or dinner. I'm for sure adding this to my summer holiday menu.
As for tomorrow I'm doing a big Indian lunch, so look for a new summer ready  recipe and a super duper dessert experiment that I hope I don't regret. Keep your fingers crossed.

9 comments :

  1. I love this recipe! It is so unique and would be a nice addition to a barbeque in place of the usual salads.

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  2. This really looks lovely and refreshing!

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  3. Simple, quick, very interesting and because of the yoghurt and cumin, something I would eat though I don't love carrots.

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  4. sounds wonderful! I adore Indian pickled carrots-very addictive.

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  5. i love carrots salad, but your salad takes it to another level..lovely

    sweetlife

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  6. WOW Kathy beautiful salad, love the cayenne and cumin seeds. I'll be trying this one for certain.

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  7. oh wow, that is fast and easy - plus it looks good, so it has to taste good!

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