At Market...Rainbow Carrots

Rainbow carrots are lovely, aren't they? Lovely in the way that you really don't need to do much to make them look and taste really spectacular and special...because they already are. Lovely in the way that somehow, just by flashing a fancy color, an ordinary root vegetable is transformed in to something extraordinary. Lovely in the way that in about the five minutes it takes to julienne them, you can have a crisp and tasty slaw that goes well with just about anything....but I'm really getting ahead of myself here.

First you need to pull off those green stems and give them a good scrub. You don't peel these because the brilliant color of the purple carrots is only on the outer layer. So just make sure they are good and clean and any little root fibers are scrubbed off.



Then comes the small matter of julienning them. I have a mandoline, which is perfect for a job like this...if you like doing dishes. But come the end of the day, I have usually been doing dishes for hours and hours so that is not something I really look forward to. Nor do I have the impeccable knife skills required to cut such long slivers of carrots. So luckily, I found this peeler thingie that actually slices the carrots into julienne strips and fits into my dishwasher's silverware compartment. Cool, huh? Alternately, you can cut the carrots into thicker ribbons using your regular vegetable peeler, which isn't as slaw-ish, but also does the job.


Finally, these gorgeous ribbons of carrot are tossed with lime juice, soy sauce and toasted sesame oil for a delicious, and nutritious (and beautiful) salad. If you can't find them in your farmers' market, don't despair! Plain orange carrots will work just fine....



Sesame Carrot Slaw
serves 4

Ingredients:

1 bunch of rainbow (or regular) carrots, cut into long julienned slices
juice from 1 lime
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
handful of chopped cilantro

Directions:

Place the carrots in a medium bowl. In another smaller bowl, whisk together the lime juice, sesame oil, soy sauce and honey. Drizzle over the carrots and toss well (I used my hands). Sprinkle with the toasted sesame seeds and chopped cilantro. Serve immediately.