Spring is coming…we hope! This bright salad looks and tastes a bit like springtime on a plate. Slicing carrots into thin ribbons brings out their fresh flavor. Tossing them in a simple orange dressing with sweet peas, fragrant herbs, and tangy feta really makes them sing. This is a great potluck dish and a perfect side to grilled fish or chicken. Enjoy with a glass of aromatic Castello delle Regine Rosé delle Regine from Umbria.
Ingredients
8-10 large multi-colored carrots
handful of nuts and/or seeds (walnuts, sunflower, pumpkin, & hemp seeds)
1/2 cup sweet peas
1/2 cup fresh herbs, like mint, roughly chopped (plus more for garnishing)
1/3 cup crumbled feta
coarse sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
For the dressing:
zest and juice of 1 orange (about 3 tbsp)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil or camelina oil
kosher salt & pepper
Directions
Prepare an ice water bath in a large bowl. Using a sharp vegetable peeler, shave the carrots into long wide ribbons. Plunge into the ice water bath until ready to use, for at least 10 minutes, and up to an hour.
Make dressing by whisking together all ingredients until smooth.
If your nuts and seeds are raw, place them in a dry skillet over medium-low heat for a few minutes, just until they start to smell toasty. Remove and let cool. When ready to assemble salad, dry carrot ribbons well, then add to a serving bowl with sweet peas, nuts, seeds, and herbs.
Toss with a little dressing until everything is lightly coated, then add crumbled feta, drizzle with a little more dressing, and sprinkle with coarse sea salt and more fresh herbs for garnish.
Chef Garima, an investment-banker turned baker-chef is the founder & CEO of breakingbread.co , an events & catering company. She is an alumni of Le Cordon Bleu, Paris & has been featured as Top 15 in reality television show- MasterChef. Chef Garima is a culinary innovator who speaks in various institutions, globally about smart & efficient ways to use food as an eradicator of health issues, poverty & induce employment.