This vibrant and refreshing carrot salad is a classic in France. Grated carrots are tossed with lemon juice, olive oil, a bit of sugar and seasoning.
Steps
1
Grating the Carrots
Ingredients
7 large carrots
Peel and then finely grate or shred the carrots, using a hand grater or machine with a fine attachment. The finer the strands, the more delicious the salad.
2
Making the Vinaigrette
Ingredients
6 tbsp lemon juice (approx. 2 lemons)
2 tsp sugar, or to taste
4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, or to taste
sea salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
To make the vinaigrette, combine together all of the ingredients and either whisk to combine, or use a jar with a tight fitting lid and shake to combine.
*Note: If you don't have fresh lemons, you can use white- or red-wine vinegar instead (or a combination of half lemon juice and half white-wine vinegar).
Lastly, taste the vinaigrette, it should have a nice balance of tartness and sweetness. If either is lacking add a bit of sugar, lemon juice or olive oil.
3
Assembling the Salad
Ingredients
1/2 bunch Italian parsley
Roughly chop the parsley and add it to the carrots, along with vinaigrette. Taste again for seasoning, adjusting the seasoning to your liking.
If you want to make this salad ahead of time, do not add the vinaigrette until just before serving. The vinaigrette will draw the moisture from the carrots and they will lose their crunchiness.
16 Comments
Faye L•
Super easy, super tasty, I like, kind of reminds me of white cabbage slaw that's serve with grilled lamb/chicken that I had in Vienna - Turkish food.
Faye
I have this Magimix food processor, made by those guys that make the Robot Coupe, but for the amateur cook. The julienne disc worked fine for the carrots. I also used the processor to mince the parsley. Including peeling the carrots, in less than 10 min. it was ready. And it tasted so fresh.
After 2 days eating the salad, I needed to do something else with the leftover. I dried it with paper towel and added to rice 5 minutes before it was cooked. I made the rice with chicken stock. It was delicious with the sweet and acidic carrots added to it.
This went really well with the grilled asparagus: http://rouxbe.com/recipes/239 and a grilled new york strip steak. It was super easy and added a ton of color to the plate.
In our family we make this recipe for several years. The recipe has been passed on with the addition of black raisins. They look great as a color contrast and balance out the taste neatly against the tartness of the vinaigrette.
Oh merci beaucoup! I totally forgot that when I used to have this (when I lived in France as a Nanny, many years ago), it often had raisins in it. I can't wait to make it again now. Thanks again. Cheers!
Nice easy salad, love it!
I found that when I got the perfect sweet/sour balance with the vinaigrette--it came off just a touch sour/bitter after combining with carrots (even though I peeled them prior to grating)--easily fixed by adding just a touch more sugar to the vinaigrette...thanks again!
I have a Magimix as well. Bought it because of the Robot Coupe I used during my past restaurant experience. I always seem to find that the grater blades leave chunks because of the space between the blade and plunger. No more waste though than a hand grater if you love your fingers. I am definitely looking forward to trying this one.
Hi Jack! The ratio for a vinaigrette is 3 parts oil to 1 part acid. Adjust as needed to (your) taste. If you would like to eliminate all the oil, we have terrific no-oil dressing recipes on the site!
thank you i want my cooking to be as perfect as can be and i feel with all of the rouxbes staff advice and help im eating healthier and better so thanks rouxbe x
Rodrigo C •I have this Magimix food processor, made by those guys that make the Robot Coupe, but for the amateur cook. The julienne disc worked fine for the carrots. I also used the processor to mince the parsley. Including peeling the carrots, in less than 10 min. it was ready. And it tasted so fresh. After 2 days eating the salad, I needed to do something else with the leftover. I dried it with paper towel and added to rice 5 minutes before it was cooked. I made the rice with chicken stock. It was delicious with the sweet and acidic carrots added to it.
Ted B •This went really well with the grilled asparagus: http://rouxbe.com/recipes/239 and a grilled new york strip steak. It was super easy and added a ton of color to the plate.
Maya D •In our family we make this recipe for several years. The recipe has been passed on with the addition of black raisins. They look great as a color contrast and balance out the taste neatly against the tartness of the vinaigrette.
Dawn T •Oh merci beaucoup! I totally forgot that when I used to have this (when I lived in France as a Nanny, many years ago), it often had raisins in it. I can't wait to make it again now. Thanks again. Cheers!
Eric H •Nice easy salad, love it! I found that when I got the perfect sweet/sour balance with the vinaigrette--it came off just a touch sour/bitter after combining with carrots (even though I peeled them prior to grating)--easily fixed by adding just a touch more sugar to the vinaigrette...thanks again!
Demetra S • Rouxbe Staff •Hi Jack! The ratio for a vinaigrette is 3 parts oil to 1 part acid. Adjust as needed to (your) taste. If you would like to eliminate all the oil, we have terrific no-oil dressing recipes on the site!
Riaz M •could i grate the carrots freeze them then defrost night before then dress them then eat as carrots are very perishable?
Eric W • Rouxbe Staff •Hi Riaz, Please give this a try and see how you like the results. ~Eric