A Moroccan meal, whether chicken bastilla or a big pot of harira (recipe on the site), is traditionally served with a spread of small salads, more like relishes than a big leafy bowl. Slata zemmouda, a warm cooked carrot salad perfumed with cumin and a little orange, takes fifteen minutes and tastes like it took much longer.
Unlike most American carrot salads, which lean raw and crunchy with mayonnaise and raisins, this one cooks the carrots until tender, then dresses them warm so they really soak up the garlic, cumin, and citrus. A splash of orange blossom water at the end is traditional and gives it this soft, floral note that is hard to place if you have never had it before, but it is easy to skip if you cannot find it and the salad will still be lovely.
Serve it alongside grilled meats or as part of a bigger mezze spread with hummus and warm bread. It is a little sweet, which makes it one of the easier vegetable dishes to get children to eat.
Slata Zemmouda Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin, plus more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
- Juice and zest of 1 orange
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1 teaspoon orange blossom water (optional)
- Salt, to taste
- Fresh cilantro or parsley, chopped, for serving
- Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
Instructions
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the carrots and cook 8 to 10 minutes, until fork-tender but not mushy. Drain well.
- While the carrots cook, warm the olive oil in a small pan over low heat. Add the garlic, cumin, and paprika, and cook gently 1 minute, just until fragrant. Do not let the garlic brown.
- In a bowl, combine the warm carrots with the garlic-spiced oil while everything is still warm, this is when the carrots absorb the most flavor.
- Add the orange juice and zest, lemon juice, and orange blossom water if using. Toss well and season with salt and more cumin to taste.
- Let sit at room temperature at least 10 minutes before serving, or chill and serve cold. Garnish with cilantro and a pinch of red pepper flakes just before serving.
Enjoy our recipes? Add Maria’s Cookbook as a preferred source on Google to see more of our content in your search results.
