I have a confession to make: I don’t really like picnics. The idea of enjoying a meal surrounded by nature is appealing, of course, but the reality of the hot summer sun just kills my appetite. And, though often delicious, heavier traditional picnic foods like fried chicken and potato salad mostly add to my discomfort.
Here’s a variant of a traditional picnic salad that even I could eat sitting on a blanket. The American standard –or at least my mother’s– bathed grated carrots in a mayonnaise-based dressing and added raisins for extra sweetness. Nice, (if well seasoned), but weighty for a hot day.
This lighter salad’s roots are in Morocco where carrot salads (no mayo) seem as common as tossed greens at home. There are countless variations, but this version strips the dish down to its skivvies. You grate the fresh sweet carrots, dress them in nothing but orange and lemon juice, lightly spiced with cumin and cinnamon and perfumed with orange flower water. (Orange flower is a magical ingredient I’d recommend adding to your pantry if you don’t keep it on hand.) The result is incredibly refreshing — light, crunchy and gently sweet. It’s perfect on a plate with grilled fish or meat, or, of course, tucked into your picnic basket.
Recipe
Ingredients
About a pound (.5 kg) of carrots
Freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon
Freshly squeezed juice of 1 orange (preferably a juice orange such as Valencia)
2 tablespoons orange flower water
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
1. Grate the carrots into a bowl.
2. Pour in the lemon and orange juices and orange flower water. Sprinkle on the sugar and cumin and toss. Taste and season with salt and pepper and toss again.
3. Cover and chill for an hour or so. Just before serving, sprinkle with the cinnamon. Serve chilled or at “room” temperature on an ant infested blanket under the blazing sun.
