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This Moroccan style carrot salad is an easy vegetarian side dish, tossed with feta, pistachios, mint, and a floral orange blossom vinaigrette.
This carrot salad is more than just a salad: it’s a salad with soul. This recipe is from our friend Lily Diamond’s new cookbook Kale & Caramel: Recipes for the Body, Heart, and Table. And what a beautiful book it is, with each chapter themed around an herb or flower. Keeping with the theme, this carrot salad has an unexpected element: orange blossom water! Keep reading for some of Lily’s beautiful words and the salad recipe.
About the book: Kale & Caramel
“This book, and the food and art and plants that live in it, was born out of great longing. From my earliest memories, I was the longing kind–I longed for friends, I longed for boys to like me, I longed for my skin to be darker, my waist to be thinner, my parents to be more normal, my self to be cooler. And when my mother got sick and died, then, too, I longed for things to be different. I longed to feel some kind of home, sometime again. I longed for love.
Then, one day, I longed to stop longing. I wanted to be made of freedom, not fear. What came when I stopped longing was being, pure and wild. Being with food that nourished me. Being with plants and flowers that healed by virtue of their very existence, their wildness. Being, no matter how much my heart hurt.”
These are the opening lines of our friend Lily’s cookbook, and are they ever powerful. Growing up I had every.single.one of those longings. And like Lily, Alex and I have learned the belonging, self-compassion, and meaning that can come from pursuing natural and wholesome food.
Lily is an all natural bad-ass, and each chapter of her book is themed around an herb or flower. The recipes are vegetarian or vegan and include breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, and even do-it-yourself beauty products. We’re huge advocates of growing and cooking with fresh herbs (see our video on growing herbs), so this concept is right up our alley! The book’s photography is gorgeous and the writing inspired.
How to make this carrot salad
The recipe we tried from Lily’s book is this carrot salad. It’s Moroccan in inspiration, starring carrot ribbons, feta, fresh mint, and orange blossom water. It was a very tasty side dish, and the orange blossom water brought a lovely floral essence.
What is orange blossom water?
Orange blossom water (or orange flower water) is a scented water that’s used in Moroccan homes. It can be used as a freshener or perfume, or it can be used in recipes. We purchased our orange blossom water online; you can also find it in some grocery stores.
A huge congratulations to Lily on a gorgeous and inspirational book! You can find more of Lily on Instagram or her website.
Buy the book
Get it >> KALE & CARAMEL: Recipes for the Body, Heart, and Table
Did you make this recipe?
If you make this carrot salad with feta and pistachios, we’d love to hear how it turned out. Leave a comment below, or share a picture and mention @acouplecooks and @kaleandcaramel and use the hashtag #kaleandcaramelcookbook on Facebook or Instagram.
This recipe is…
This carrot salad recipe is vegetarian and gluten-free. For vegan, plant-based, and dairy-free, omit the feta crumbles.
Carrot Salad with Feta & Pistachios
This Moroccan style carrot salad is an easy vegetarian side dish, tossed with feta, pistachios, mint, and a floral orange blossom vinaigrette.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 to 6 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: Mixed
- Cuisine: Moroccan
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 11⁄2 teaspoons orange blossom water 2 teaspoons honey
- 1⁄4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1⁄4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1⁄4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, plus more for garnish
- 1⁄4 teaspoon sea salt
- 10 carrots, washed and tops trimmed and reserved
- 1 cup coarsely chopped fresh mint leaves, plus more for garnish
- 2⁄3 cup chopped toasted pistachio nuts
- 2⁄3 cup crumbled feta cheese
Instructions
- Combine the oil, vinegar, orange blossom water, honey, cumin, cardamom, the ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, and the salt in a jar, seal, and shake to blend. Alternately, whisk the ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
- Use a vegetable peeler, mandoline, or spiralizer to slice the carrots into long, thin strips. Finely chop a handful of carrot tops (resulting in about 1⁄4 cup). Place the carrot strips and carrot tops in a large salad bowl.
- Add the mint and pistachios, and pour the dressing over all. Toss to combine. Gently fold in the feta. Top with mint and extra red pepper flakes, if you want an additional kick of spice.
Notes
Copyright © 2017 by Lily Diamond from KALE & CARAMEL: Recipes for Body, Heart, and Table published by Atria Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
All my favorite things in one dish. I can’t wait to make this recipe, especially with that orange blossom water! And Lily’s words are incredibly moving.
Glad you linked to your wonderful herb video too. I loved watching it again! :-)
Nothing says Spring more than a fresh and healthy salad. Thanks for the recipe!
Carrots are one of my favorite veggies. I adore them and can eat them straight up all day long!
However, fetta is also becoming something I love and want more of more often. This looks like a great combo of what I always want to eat. haha
Sonja. Alex. I am so thrilled and honored to be on A Couple Cooks today. Thank you. Thank you for sharing your hearts so openly and fully. Thank you for resonating so completely with that seed of longing we all carry in our hearts. And these photos!! Swooning. I feel so lucky to call you beautiful people friends, and I hope our paths cross in person sometime so soon. AND I CANNOT WAIT FOR YOUR BOOK!!!!
It is our absolute pleasure to feature your beautiful work! Can’t wait to see you soon — and thank you for the sweet words :)
Not only is this salad gorgeous, but it also has some great flavors! Loving the feta in here :) Pinning!
It’s very tasty, and using rainbow carrots makes it look stunning without too much work (just peeling and chopping!)! Let us know if you give it a try!