Vegan | Gluten-Free | Grain-Free | Naturally Sweetened | Dairy-Free
Today we are sharing with you the final recipe from our last New Year’s retreat: a delicious, nutrient-rich Moroccan carrot & lentil salad. Since we are still in mid winter, a warm dish may be somewhat more appealing than a cold one these days. The good thing about this salad is that is as easily served (luke)warm as cold, in this case you just have to prepare and serve it right after cooking the lentils.
Ingredients (4 servings)
- 1 cup brown lentils (cooked or dry)
- 8 medium-sized carrots
- 1/2 cup of fresh parsley
- 1/2 cup of almonds
- 1/2 cup of raisins
For the dressing:
- 1 lemon
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1/2 cup dates
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tsp curcuma
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp ginger (I used ground ginger, but it can also be replaced with fresh), pinch of cayenne
- Optional: a shoot of balsamic vinegar
Instructions
1. If using dry lentils, cook them in water and a pinch of salt for 20 minutes or until they are soft. Pour off the water once they are cooked and put the lentils in a salad bowl.
2. Roast the almonds in a frying pan without oil until they turn dark brown
3. Peel and grate the carrots and add to the bowl.
4. In a jug, soak the dates in a little bit of hot water. Squeeze the lemon and add the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, all the spices and (optionally) the vinegar to the jug. Mix with an immersion blender.
5. Chop the fresh parsley very fine and add to the salad bowl. Add the raisins and the dressing and mix well together.
6. Finally, mix the roasted almonds in the salad before serving. It’s nice to save this until the end so the almonds do not lose their crunchiness.
Tip: if you want to experiment with flavours, try frying the spices in a frying pan for a few minutes, until they give off a nice smell, before adding them to the dressing.
Bom appetite!
Much Love, the Avidanja community