Tashkent Carrot Salad

When we had an anniversary dinner at the Russian Tea Time restaurant in downtown Chicago, I promised to develop some of the recipes we love from there. The first one is the Tashkent Carrot Salad, a fresh, light side dish that will give you something new and easy to do with carrots. Adjust the amount of seasoning to your taste.

Ingredients

1 lb. carrots
1 tbsp. sugar
2 cloves of garlic, minced
4 tbsp. olive oil
4 tbsp. white vinegar
1 tsp. ground coriander*
1/2 tsp. Hungarian paprika
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Peel carrots and chop off ends. Coarsely grate the carrots, then mix with sugar and minced garlic. Combine the rest of the ingredients, and let marinate for 4-6 hours. Mix thoroughly before serving as juices tend to drain to the bottom of the bowl. Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled.

Makes 4 side servings.

*Coriander, the seed of the cilantro plant, is widely used in Mediterranean, Asian, and some African cooking. If you buy whole seeds, like we do, they can be easily ground in a coffee grinder or food processor, or mortar and pestle or molcajete if you have one. We like the seeds coarsely ground to add some texture and an extra zing of flavor.