Moroccan Carrot Salad

SERVES 4 TO 6

As Crescent Dragonwagon writes, this salad combines the faintly exotic North African seasonings, about which people tend to be love-em-or-hate-em, with the comfortingly familiar grated carrots. The carrots are blanched briefly before being grated, which leaves plenty of texture but the raw edge is taken off. This is Dragonwagons version of an early Paula Wolfert recipe from her cookbook Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco. Reprinted from Passionate Vegetarian with permission from Workman Publishing.

1 to 1 ½ lb. carrots
3 large cloves garlic
2 to 3 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbs. ground cumin
1 Tbs. paprika
½ tsp. salt, or to taste
Dash ground cinnamon, optional
Dash cayenne, optional
1 lemon, halved
1 tsp. honey
¼ cup minced cilantro
¼ cup minced Italian parsley

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Drop in carrots, and blanch for 3 minutes. Drain well, and place in cold water. When cool, drain carrots. Remove any tough peel, and grate carrots.
Put grated carrots in a bowl, and, with a garlic press, squeeze garlic over top. Drizzle in olive oil, starting with 1 tablespoon, and sprinkle on cumin, paprika, salt, cinnamon and cayenne, if using. Squeeze half lemon through sieve, and stir in honey. Adjust oil, lemon juice and salt to taste. Chill if desired. Before serving, toss with cilantro and parsley.