Sweet Carrot Salad

After a day of shopping for our winter essentials for our trip North to Ohio and putting itty bitty in and pulling him out of his car seat 6 times I was worn out. My hands were cold too. Being cold should have made me want something to warm myself up. Not the case last night. I didn't want to stand in the kitchen and put anything together. Not even the prospect of making a new recipe was exciting me. What got me in the kitchen was the thought that Mr. Sideline Chef was at work all day while itty bitty and I had a very enjoyable day out together. The guilt set in that this man busts his balls at work all day and I get to stay at home and reap the benefits of his hard work. He never complains about the sink full of dishes or the floors that get mopped once in a blue moon a week. He deserves a prepared meal when he gets home, it's the least I could do. Although he prefers the enthusiastic hello, hug and kiss when he walks through the door. He's pretty incredible.

We started at Ross and picked up our winter hats, gloves, jackets, an outfit with jeans for itty bitty, and some other items. Next stop was to the mall for the hunt of a Christmas top for itty bitty since his black slacks from the year prior still fit him. After having a mommy/son lunch with him and spoiling him at Cookie Place with an M&M cookie we set out to our last stop in the mall, Macy's, and luckily found the only item that was Christmasy and in his size... a black and grey striped sweater with a skull wearing a Santa hat... I'm sure the family will be thrilled when they receive Santa photos this year. What is it with little girl's having an entire section designated for frilly dresses and boys having a single rack with tuxedos? It's a crock o' shit if you ask me.

With the entire list of needs marked off and the wallet a bit lighter (boo!) we set out to run the rest of the errands. Library, bank, and then grocery shopping. Even though I kept itty bitty out 2+ hours into nap time we had no meltdowns and I enjoyed our time together.

Mr. Sideline Chef arrived home and I still hadn't settled on what we were having for dinner and I hadn't wrote down my recipes yet. Dinner was an hour and a half later. Fish fillet with Yukon Mashed Potatoes with Horseradish Butter (recipe tomorrow) and a side dish of Sweet Carrot Salad.

Didn't like getting their photo taken.

The Sweet Carrot Salad was part of a Moroccan Passover Feast menu. Mr. Sideline Chef would have possibly enjoyed the Passover Vegetable Soup but wanting to only dump one new recipe to try on him I settled on just making the Sweet Carrot Salad.

This makes for a vibrant orange side dish. It has a subtle tang from the lemon juice but is tamed by the sugar added. It is flavored with cinnamon, cumin, parsley, and paprika. The cumin is the dominating flavor in this side dish. It is also served chilled. Mr. Sideline Chef ate what was on his plate but didn't comment until I asked directly what he thought, "Well... I ate it. I didn't like it." Itty bitty took one bite and started placing his carrot slices from his high chair tray to the table to clear them off his plate. Me, I thought it was delicious. First bite I wasn't convinced but after a second bite I really liked it. It'll make a nice side dish to go with my sandwich today for lunch.

Sweet Carrot Salad

MyRecipes.com and Cooking Light, March 1997

Makes 4 cups (Serving size = 1/2 cup)

Stars of the Show:

• 5 cups (1/2 inch thick) carrot slices
• 2 garlic cloves, halved - I used minced garlic since I always buy garlic in the jars to help cut on prep time. I'm not sure if the garlic bits really did much to change the flavor since the cumin is the dominant taste in this dish.
• 2/3 cup fresh lemon juice - 3 small lemons gave me half of this amount.
• 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley - I used dried parsley.
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp paprika

And Action:

Combine carrots and garlic in a large pot. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Cook 8 minutes or until tender. Drain. Discard garlic.



Looks like artwork!

Combine lemon juice and the remaining ingredients in a medium bowl and stir well. Add carrots to lemon juice mixture and toss to coat. Serve salad at room temperature or chilled.

Nutritional Information:

Calories: 30 (3% from fat)

Fat: 0.1g (sat 0.1g,mono 0.0g,poly 0.0g)

Protein: 0.6g

Carbohydrate: 8g

Fiber: 0.9g

Cholesterol: 0.0mg

Iron: 0.5mg

Sodium: 31mg

Calcium: 19mg