harissa carrot salad

Something about the fall always sends us back to our kitchen – cooking up comfort foods, embracing the flavors of the season (stay tuned for pumpkin and apple recipes because yes, we’re absolutely going there) and filling our house with the scent of all things simmering on the stove is really high on our to-do list.

Fresh and flavorful – that’s two of our main requirements when we take to the kitchen. And while we truly love hearty comfort food, we still crave healthy, fresh bites in the fall.

There’s no better way to cook seasonally than to head to our farmer’s market and stock up on what’s in the stalls. And that’s exactly what we did last Sunday. What caught our eye? Well, everything… but particularly the cutest set of ombre carrots we’ve ever seen.

 

So, we thought. Carrot salad. That sounds pretty delicious to us.

And while some of you may have the patience to shred these into delicate strands, we just grabbed a knife and went at it, getting chop-happy.

 

But that wasn’t enough. And then we remembered – we had some Cava Grill harissa dip stocked in our fridge.
Be still, our spice-loving hearts. A little sautéed garlic, some cumin and some harissa later made a delicious simple sauce…

 

 

Fresh herbs? Finely chopped and scattered throughout?

Yep. Mint and oregano, meet harissa and carrots.

 

Oh and you thought we weren’t going to get cheese in here? Get outta here.

Topping this with feta was the best call we’ve made all day.

 

 

 

harissa carrot salad

adapted from smitten kitchen

Wash & peel your carrots and roughly chop. (You can also grate them, if preferred).

In a stovetop pan, sauté two minced cloves of garlic in 4-5 tablespoons of olive oil. Add a teaspoon of cumin, 1/2 a teaspoon of paprika, two teaspoons of harissa (you can adjust this based on your preferred level of spice) and 1/2 a teaspoon of sugar. Cook 1-2 minutes.

Remove from heat. Stir in juice of half a lemon and a pinch of salt. Finely chop a handful of mint and oregano leaves and add, along with the sauce, to chopped carrots.

Infuse for an hour. Serve topped with feta.