Caraway spiced carrot salad

Lunch parties. For years I have cherished this vision about the perfect lunch party at my house: our friends and loved ones would gather around a long farm table in the backyard. The carcass of our basketball hoop laying by the grass would magically disappear and a large vase of ranunculus would garnish the peach colored tablecloth.  Adults will be nibbling on marinated olives and muhammara dip, while the kids would be playing knights with cheese straws or, even  better, eating them. The food, and I, would be ready well in advance and I won't have my hair still soaking wet from the last minute shower. 

A Spicy Salad For Your Eyes / Une Salade épicée Pour Vos Yeux

When I was about four-year old, I used to wear glasses. I had a slight squint (my siblings used to all me cross-eyed).

I used to go to the eye doctor every week, and every time we would come back from his office my father would show me a building on the far left side of the street and ask me if I can see it clearly. Most of the time my answers were an exasperating no! He would console me with a kiss on my forehead and tells me that I would do better next time and that for now a plate of carrots salad would help my eyes get better.

I don’t know if it was my mothers’ spicy carrot salad that helped my eyes get back on the right track, but at least it was a good excuse for me to have the biggest part.

This salad is very popular in Algeria and Morocco. It is usually served in a small plate along with two or three colorful seasonal salads. My mother usually boils the carrots, slices them then tosses them with a cumin vinaigrette. I came across a cute bunch of tiny carrots the other day at the grocery store and decided to leave them whole and roast them. The salad can’t be easier: Just whisk the vinaigrette, pour it over the carrots and roast the colorful bounty for about 15-20 minutes, until the carrots are caramelized and your whole house smells like a Mediterranean spice shop.

You can serve this salad slightly warm, but I think it tastes better after a few hours, to give the warm spices and the carrots a little while to “ripen”.

Another Favorite Salad:
- Roasted beets Salad

Spicy Roasted Carrot Salad

Recipe: Serves 6
- 2 thin carrot bunches, peeled
- 1 fat garlic clove, finely diced
- Lemon juice
- 2 tbsp garlic oil
- ½ tsp honey
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- ½ tsp paprika
- 1 pinch ground cinnamon
- 1 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
- ½ tsp Kosher salt
- Freshly ground pepper

Position a rack in the middle of the oven, and preheat to 400F.

In a small bowl, whisk together the garlic oil, garlic, honey, cumin seeds, paprika, cinnamon, salt and black pepper. Set the vinaigrette aside.
In a baking sheet, toss together the carrots with the vinaigrette, and bake until caramelized and tender, about 15-20 minutes.

Serve with a drizzle of lemon juice and chopped cilantro.

Salade épicée de Carottes Rôties

In Francais Please: Pour 6 personnes
- 2 bottes de carottes plus au moins fines
- 1 grosse gousse d’ail, finement hachée
- Jus de citron
- 2 c.s d’huile d’ail
- ½ c.c de miel
- 1 c.c de graines de cumin
- ½ c.c de paprika
- 1 pincée de cannelle en poudre
- 1 c.s de coriandre frais, hachée
- ½ c.c de sel (pas de sel de table)
- Poivre noir fraichement moulu

Mettre la grille du four au milieu, et préchauffer a 200C

Dans un petit bol, mélanger l’huile d’ail, l’ail, miel, graines de cumin, paprika, canelle, sel et poivre. Mettre cette vinaigrette de coté.
Mettre les carottes sur une grande tôle et les enduire de la vinaigrette. Cuire au four jusqu’a ce que les carottes deviennent tendres et caramélisées, environ 15-20 minutes.

Servir avec un filet de jus de citron et la coriandre hachée.

Beets: The Only Way / Betteraves: La seule Manière

Twenty-four years, nine months and ten days. This is how much it took me to find out that beets can be roasted and are better than boiled ones. Much better.

Growing up, when my mother and I would go to the downtown market “looking for our lunch”, as she always says, we knew that buying beets meant one thing and one thing only: boiled beets salad with cumin. It is the only beet recipe I have in my recipe notebook. The only way I ate beets for the last twenty-four years, nine months and ten days. The only way I thought beets could be eaten.

Needless to say how confused and lost I felt when hearing about this cooking method on the radio. This was a lot worse than the day I discovered that the tooth fairy was in fact my parents sneaking into our bedroom, and hiding our teeth in my father’s diplomatic pouch- my sister and brothers didn’t want to believe me when I told them the truth and decided not to talk to me for two whole days.

I couldn’t wait to buy some beets last week and do the unthinkable: revisit my mother beets salad. The traditional way, or at least the way my mother would serve it, was to boil beets for nearly an hour, peel them, and serve them with ground cumin, parsley, sometimes boiled eggs, and an orange vinaigrette. My version is a little bit similar in the basis, as I love the combination of beets, cumin and orange, but so much better than the original in taste. Sorry Maman!

Roasting the beets really brings out their natural sweetness, preserve their vitamins and gives a meaty, caramelized texture to the beets- compared to watery boiled beets. Cumin seeds are roasted along with the beets to allow their smokiness to penetrate the flesh deeply, while the orange and honey vinaigrette freshens up the whole dish and sort of highlights each ingredient. It is really an explosion of smokiness, sweetness and warmth in one salad. It became our favorite root vegetable salad and the only way we will be eating beet salad from now on and for the second time in two weeks.

My Roasted Beets Salad

Recipe: Serves 4
- 4 to 5 medium beets, rinsed and quartered
- 5 shallots, peeled and quartered
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- Olive oil
- For the Vinaigrette:
- 1 tbsp Meyer lemon juice (or a mix of orange juice and lemon juice)
- 1 tsp honey
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp orange zest
- ¼ tsp salt
- A pinch of freshly grated black pepper
- Silvered Almonds, lightly toasted
- 1 tbsp chopped Parsley


Preheat the oven to 400F. Line a large sheet pan with foil. Put the beets, shallots, and cumin seeds in the middle of the foil. Season the mixture lightly with salt and pepper and drizzle with some olive oil. Toss to coat. Fold the sheet of foil over the vegetables as you would fold a letter, and bake until fork tender, about 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, whisk the honey with the Meyer lemon juice, half the chopped parsley, salt, pepper and the orange zest. Add the olive oil while whisking until the vinaigrette comes together but is still a little light.
Toss the hot roasted beets with the vinaigrette. Sprinkle the toasted silvered almonds on top, the remaining parsley, and a little bit of orange zest.

Serve warm. You can scatter some goat cheese too. It’s lovely with beets.

Ma Salade de Betteraves Rôties

In Francais Please: Pour 4 personnes
- 4 a 5 betteraves, lavées et coupées en quartiers
- 5 échalotes, épluchées et coupées en quartiers
- 1 c.c de graines de cumin
- Huile d’olive
- Pour la Vinaigrette:
- 1 c.s de jus de Meyer Citron (ou mélange jus de citron et orange)
- 1 c.c de miel
- 75 ml d’huile d’olive
- 1 c.c de zeste d’orange
- ¼ c.c de sel
- Une pincée de poivre noir fraichement moulu
- Amandes effilées, légerement grilles
- 1 c.s de persil haché

Préchauffer le four a 200C. Garnir une grande tôle de papier aluminium que vous laisser un peu déborder des bords. Mettre au milieu du papier les betteraves, les échalotes et les graines de cumin. Assaisonner de sel, poiver et huile d’olive pour bien couvrir les legumes. Mélanger pour bien répartir l’assaisonnement et faites cuire jusqu’à ce que les betteraves soient bien tendres, environ 45 minutes.
Entre temps, préparer votre vinaigrette. Battre à l’aide d’un fouet le jus de citron, le miel, la moitié de persil, sel, poivre et zeste d’orange. Verser dessus l’huile d’olive en filet.
Mélanger les betteraves encore chaudes a la vinaigrette. Décorer d’amandes effilées, le reste de persil et un peu de zeste d’orange.

Servir tiède. Vous pouvez aussi disperser un peu de fromage de chèvre au dessus. C’est superbement bon avec les betteraves.

One Vegetable, Five Spices / Un Légume, Cinq épices

What I like about farmer’s market is how people interact with each other and how it seems natural to talk to your next on line neighbor while filling your basket with lettuce and butternut squashes. There are individuals who come in early wearing tennis shoes and a cap and a big smile on their face, and those who live right across the street who come pulling their kids in green wooden carts, and there are those who come around noon, holding a mug of coffee and chatting with producers that have some free sample to offer.

Me? I am the type of person who arrives at 10, with my huge red and beige wicker basket (which can be practical to make my way through the crowded market) and my hubby pulling our daughter’s stroller. You will find me carrying two wallets: a small one for change, in my rear Jean’s pocket and the bigger one inside my basket. And yes, you will find me by the chestnut cheesecake and brownies samples too or by the eggplant stand trying to share some "coherent" recipes with some eggplant debutants.

I said: “coherent” because I just don’t know how to explain recipes orally. Not that I don’t know how to speak: “Hi, how are you? Pleasure to meet you.” I know all of that!
But when it comes to giving recipes I always get carried away by the excitement of the fruit/vegetable in question and find myself trying to explain 2 or 3 recipes to a poor lady that just wanted to know how do I cook my eggplant. But she is too polite the lady; she doesn’t dare asking me to stop. She even thanks me and keeps asking me questions although I can see that her right eye is looking at me and the left one is looking elsewhere, for somebody to drag her away from me.

Then I’ll go all smiles to my husband who was waiting for me at the corner, and who asks me: “how many recipe did you give her?”
“ I don’t know, may be three! Too bad I didn’t have a paper and a pen to write it all down for her. Oh but wait!! I completely forgot to give her the spicy eggplant recipe that you love so much. You think I should go and give it to her quickly? She is still there by the tomatoes stand!”
“Oh no! I think she’s had enough”, he replies joking.

This is indeed my hubby’s favorite way of enjoying eggplant and I promise to explain it to you calmly.

Eggplant Zaalouk is an Algerian dish, served as an appetizer or a side dish to Lamb Kebabs.
The traditional eggplant Zaalouk is prepared by frying the eggplant flesh with tomatoes, onions, garlic, cumin and paprika. It’s also called Eggplant Caviar in Europe.
My version has more spices and the eggplant is cubed and broiled with some olive oil. Toasting the spices in a pan is very important to have a fragrant, smoky finished dish. I used ground cumin but whole cumin would work as well. Sometimes I add to it roasted, cubed zucchini, when in season, and roasted, diced red and green peppers. It is Delicious warm, nestled inside a piece of bread and even better tomorrow, straight from the fridge.

Eggplant Zaalouk

Recipe:
- 1 eggplant, peeled or not, and diced
- 1 to 2 garlic cloves (I used Diana's and Dick German Extra Hardy) - 1 tsp caraway powder
- ½ tsp sweet paprika (paprika goes bad very quickly. check for date and keep it in a dark, cool place)
- 2 tomatoes, peeled and diced
- ½ tsp freshly ground coriander seeds
- ½ tsp freshly ground cumin powder
- A tiny pinch of cinnamon
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Salt, freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp cilantro leaves, finely chopped
- Olive oil for baking


Put the eggplant cubes in a colander. Sprinkle with generous amount of kosher salt and let it sweat at least 30 min. Sweating the eggplant removes the bitterness of the eggplants. If you're using Japanese, thin eggplant, there is no need to sweat the eggplant. Rinse the eggplants and pat dry really well with a clean kitchen towel. Heat your oven at 400F.

Arrange the eggplant in a baking sheet. Drizzle with some olive oil, until every cube is well lubricated and season lightly with salt and pepper. Bake until the eggplant cubes become golden brown and tender, about 20 min.
Meanwhile, heat a non-stick pan on medium heat. Add caraway powder, paprika, coriander seeds, cumin powder and the cinnamon. Stir the spices in the pan, using a wooden spoon until they become very fragrant. Pour over the tbsp of olive oil, diced tomatoes and minced garlic. Cover the pan and cook for 10 minutes on medium-low heat. Add the eggplant cubes (and other vegetables if using. See note below) and toss them so they get evenly coated with all the spices and the olive oil. Add some olive oil if needed and continue cooking and tossing for 2 minutes.
Sprinkle the cilantro leaves on top of the eggplant and season with salt and pepper if needed. Toss and plate.
Serve warm with some bread to mop all the goodness.

Note: If using zucchini, red peppers and green peppers, broil the peppers by themselves until the skin gets blistered. Peel, dice and set aside. As for the zucchini, bake them along with the eggplants and continue with the recipe as mentioned above.

Aubergine Zaalouk Grillée

In francais please:
- 1 aubergine, coupée en dés
- 2 gousses d’ail moyennes, finement haché
- 1 c.c de carvi en poudre
- ½ c.c de paprika
- ½ c.c de graines de coriandre
- ½ c.c de cumin en poudre
- 1 toute petite pincée de cannelle
- 1 c.s d’huile d’olive
- Sel, poivre fraichement moulu
- 2 c.s de feuilles de coriandre, finement ciselées
- Huile d’olive pour griller

Mettre les cubes d’aubergine dans une passoire. Saupoudrer généreusement de gros sel et laisser dégorger au moins 30 min. Rinser-les sous l’eau du robinet et sécher a l’aide d’une serviette de cuisine propre. Préchauffer le gril de votre four a 225C.
Disposer les cubes d’aubergine en une seule couche dans un grand plat allant au four. Verser de l’huile d’olive dessus pour bien les lubrifier. Assaisonner légerement de sel, poivre et mettre a 20cm sous le gril. Laisser cuire jusqu’a ce que les cubes deviennent dorées et tendres.
Entre temps, faites chauffer une poele antiadhesive. Mettre dedans carvi, cumin, paprika, graines de coriandre et cannelle. Faites chauffer sur feu doux, en remuant a l’aide d’une cuil en bois jusqu’a ce que vous puissiez sentir tous les épices. Ajouter la c.s d’huile d’olive, puis l’ail tout en continuant de remuer. Ajouter dessus les cubes d’aubergine et faites sauter afin d’imprégner les cubes des toutes les epices. Laisser cuire encore 2 min sans cesser de remuer. Attention a ne pas réduire vos aubergine en purée.
Mettre les feuilles de coriandre sur les aubergines. Faites sauter une derniere fois et servir dans un plat.
Servir tiede avec une portion génereuse de pain.

Other eggplant recipes and spicy appetizers:

- Stuffed eggplant rolls
- Chermoula and Calamari