red hands alert: carrot & beet salad with harissa, currants & mint

carrot & beet salad with harissa, currants & mint  | everybody likes sandwiches

Farmer’s markets are in full swing still and last Wednesday I picked up some beets, carrots, garlic and mint. At the time of purchase, I wasn’t envisioning a meal that would use everything I bought, but somehow everything came together and this incredibly colourful salad was the result.

Not only is this salad full of crunch and colour, it’s also ridiculously delicious. When I asked for more harissa ideas in my chicken-chickpea post, someone suggested this salad. Thank you! I played with the recipe and ended up with a new favourite.

carrot & beet salad with harissa, currants & mint  | everybody likes sandwiches

Of course this isn’t an easy salad to make. There is a lot of shredding so watch your hands and be careful – you don’t want to cut yourself. I use a julienne slicer, but a box grater would work just fine. Red hands will result. You will look weird with red hands, no doubt about it.  Cracking jokes about your shy, embarrassed hands will only get you so far (ie. not far at all, weirdo). Whatever! Just throw on a good podcast or a good album and get to work. It’ll be over before you know it. There might even be an attachment for the food processor but if there is, it’s not something I’ve used (I do have a food processor but have never used the various slicer attachments – should I?)

The spices get heated over the stove with oil and fresh garlic and sugar so that they can get all friendly and share in the joy that is this vinaigrette. Add lemon juice and dump it over the beets and carrots. Currants add another bit of sweetness. Also, I just like them in a carrot salad. But the mint!!! The mint! Don’t forget about it. Usually, when I see mint in a recipe, I just skip it because sometimes mint is just weird when there’s too much of it. But here it’s a delicate but powerful ingredient. It makes the salad. Use it.

carrot & beet salad with harissa, currants & mint  | everybody likes sandwiches

carrot & beet salad with harissa & mint
(adapted from Smitten Kitchen’s carrot salad)

4 medium-sized beets, peeled
4 large carrots, peeled
4 T diced red onion (about a 1/4 of a small red onion)
3 T olive oil
1 big fat garlic clove, minced
1/2 T brown sugar or honey
1-2 t harissa
3/4 t cumin, crushed
1/2 t paprika
3 T lemon juice
4 T currants
kosher salt
fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped

Using a julienne slicer (I used my trusty Benriner Japanese Mandoline Slicer), shred your carrots and beets into matchsticks, do the carrots first and then the beets. If you dn’t have a julienne slicer just use a regular box grater. Toss the beets and the carrots well in a large serving bowl. Add in the red onion and toss as well.

In a small skillet or pot, combine the oil, sugar, harissa, cumin, and paprika over med-high heat until everything melts and gets a bit bubbly. Turn off heat and remove skillet from the heat source. Pour in the lemon juice, mix and then dump over the carrot-beet mixture. Toss with the currants and a little kosher salt until everything is well mixed. Let sit for 30 minutes before serving. Serve in bowls or alongside your main meal and top each serving with chopped mint leaves – don’t leave them out, that’s an order!

7 comments to “red hands alert: carrot & beet salad with harissa, currants & mint”

  1. 1
    Rachel   September 5, 2014 at 1:20 pm

    I had a beet salad yesterday! I love the idea of mint.

  2. 2
    Ordinary Blogger   September 7, 2014 at 5:29 pm

    Love your ‘red hands alert.’ When my CSA started up in the spring, I got a box of latex gloves. I love beets but I hate what they do to my hands. The gloves are just the thing to keep me from looking like I just slaughtered a cow with my bare hands.

  3. 3
    Nicole   September 9, 2014 at 11:42 am

    What a pretty salad!! The beet staining scares me, so I usually throw my CSA beets into smoothies and I love them there. This salad looks worth the red hands, though!

  4. 4
    JoanneM   September 9, 2014 at 8:45 pm

    This salad sounds incredible! Fresh mint is an amazing add-in. Surprisingly, I actually don’t mind having red hands. When I worked in a kitchen I used to be responsible for thinly slicing beets and grilling them for the beet and edamame salad, so I got used to having red palms all the time. p.s. Yes, use the slicing blade on your food processor. I always avoided it too at first but after using it a few times for carrots, I was amazed at how fast it did the job, especially if you are grating a lot of carrots. Cleaning up the blades and parts after wasn’t such great fun but you get used to it. p.s.s. “big fat garlic clove” LOL!

  5. 5
    kickpleat   September 23, 2014 at 1:44 pm

    Thanks Rachel – mint and beets = dream team!!

    OB, yes, latex gloves – need to pick up a pair or a box!! Smart.

    I do love beets in smoothies too, Nicole. Sometimes it’s worth the red hands 🙂

    JoanneM, thanks!! I will try using the slicing blade if it makes the job easier!

  6. 6
    Nishta   November 12, 2014 at 11:29 am

    made and really enjoyed this! did it the night before a picnic and this was by far everyone’s favorite part of the spread. thanks!

  7. 7
    kickpleat   November 16, 2014 at 6:33 pm

    Nishta, so glad to hear it!! Glad you all enjoyed it 🙂

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