Carrot Salad with Harissa, Feta, and Mint

I recently found a blog that I wish I had found years ago.  It's called smitten kitchen.  The site is so popular that apparently the author now has a cookbook, highlighting a best-of list of recipes from her blog.  (Yes, this is very Johnny-come-lately of me.)  As you might imagine, the site has several fantastic recipes and beautiful step-by-step photos, which are especially helpful when in the process of cooking.

I found smitten kitchen when I was looking for another recipe (for a certain very well-known NY Times plum torte recipe, which I will write about at a later date), and it felt like fate.  While on the site, I decided to look for a salad with a fresh take, and I found a recipe that includes harissa, which I had never used before.  Harissa is a spicy, pepper-based condiment that is popular in northern Africa.  It has recently made a big splash in Europe, and now in the US.  I imagined that the heat from the pepper would create a nice base for this salad, with lemon and mint to lighten things up, and feta to cool things down.  Sounds great, right?  So, off I went to procure my ingredients and make the dish... and I've gotta say, this salad is fantastic.  I've made this recipe twice this week alone (I'm risking beta carotene poisoning, I know), first as written on the smitten kitchen website, then with a few modifications.  I prefer my version, and include it here.

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 pound carrots, peeled, trimmed and coarsely grated 
• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 crushed clove of garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds or about half as much, ground (I used seeds but ground them first)
• 3/4 teaspoon cumin seeds or about half as much, ground 
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 3/4 teaspoon harissa (adjust to taste, and to the heat level of your harissa)
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 4 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 1/2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 2 1/2 tablespoons fresh mint, finely chopped
• feta, to taste, crumbled or chopped into bits

Directions:

1. In a small sauté pan, cook the garlic in the olive oil until slightly golden.  Discard the garlic.
2. Add the caraway, cumin, paprika, harissa, and sugar to the pan with the garlic-infused oil; heat on a low flame until fragrant, about five minutes. 
3. Pour the oil and spices into a small bowl; add the lemon juice, and a pinch of salt.  Whisk together.
4. Pour the dressing over the carrots; mix. 
5. Add the herbs; mix. 
6. Let the salad sit to infuse for an hour (or more); store in the fridge.
7. Mix and add the feta before serving. 

This dish is delicious, and bright, and slightly sweet.  The feta is a great addition; it adds a touch of saltiness and, more importantly it smooths out any heat you get from the harissa.  But I have to say, the flavor of the harissa in this dish is very mild and understated, since it seems to meld together with the spices.  The lemon and herbs are more noticeable, lending a freshness to the dish.  Though the highlight of the salad is obviously the carrots, which add a hint of sweetness.  In my initial attempt at making this salad, I was in a bit of a hurry, and I used pre-grated carrots -- this was a big mistake.  I definitely recommend grating whole carrots by hand for this dish; they are so much sweeter and juicier, and the texture can't be beat.  In my experience the smaller, thinner carrots can be a hint sweeter (compared to the larger ones), so I tend to go for these.

As for the harissa, I've tried 3 brands at this point (Les Moulins, Mina, Dea), and they are all good.  Les Moulins has a smokier/sun-dried tomato flavor, while Mina has a more prominent red pepper flavor.  Dea is a bit sour at first, and then the pepper flavor kicks in.  The salad works well with all of them, and I found that the least expensive brand (Dea), at $3 for the tube from Citarella, works just as well as the others do in the salad.  All of these brands are a bit spicy, so if your palate prefers a more mild flavor, definitely reduce the amount of harissa you use or look for a mild harissa (Mina makes a mild version).  You could also make your own harissa, as there are a number of recipes out there to try (for example, see here, and here).

cumin, sugar, caraway, paprika, harissa (Les Moulins)

salad with freshly grated carrots

Enjoy!