EXOTIC IMPULSE PAYS OFF IN SATISFYING CARROT SALAD
I can’t be the only one who impulse buys odd ingredients. Though it’s possible I do it more than most people.
Instead of coming home from travels with souvenir T-shirts or key chains, I come back with (Canadian customs-approved) spices, salts, oils and vinegars. Bottles of liquor have been carefully nestled into my suitcase, as have unusual cookies, intriguing types of tea and oddball candies. Though, it turns out, I don’t even have to leave the city to end up with a collection of uncommon foodstuffs. A trip to the ethnic grocery store, to me, is like a trip overseas without the costly airfare.
As a result, my small pantry is often stocked with bits and bobs that I rarely have any idea what to do with.
Among them, a tube of harissa — a hot chili pepper paste that originates from Northern Africa and is made from sweet and hot peppers and a collection of spices. Recipes vary, and there are plenty of homemade versions that can be found online.
But it was a stack of yellow boxes with exotic script and the lone English word, ‘ harissa,’ that drew my attention in Kalamata Grocery one day and had me grabbing one to take up to the counter. (Kalamata Grocery is excellent for unusual ingredient impulse purchases: rosewater, injera, pomegranate molasses and so much more.)
I had seen recipes here and there online that use the spice paste, so I knew some ideas on what to do with it existed when I bought the tube. Once I had it home, though, I couldn’t remember where I had seen any of them. Except one: a grated carrot salad from Smitten Kitchen. (Incidentally, she also has a recipe for making harissa itself.)
I recalled it partly because I really like grated carrot in salads — it’s often how I add carrot to my basic green salad, for a better distribution of the slightly sweet flavour and bright colour — partly because it seemed to have a slight Moroccan influence and also because I loved the idea of mint and parsley adding some brightness.
Perhaps most of all, though, it used harissa, which had the exotic pull of being an ingredient I had not yet tried and wanted to, even though I wasn’t sure, at the time, where I would find it.
Perusing the shelves at Kalamata, I wasn’t searching specifically for the spicy paste, but the yellow box was a beacon.
Even though I readily admit I have little to no tolerance for spicy foods — much to my family’s embarrassment and the surprise of a lot of friends — I still was eager to take harissa for a test run.
The carrot salad seemed a good starting spot. The mint, the carrots and feta would all have a cooling effect to counteract the chili heat.
It comes together quickly, even when grating the carrots by hand, enjoying the simple labour and pleasure of just being in the kitchen.
While I grated, I infused olive oil with garlic — bonus: no need to mince — the harissa, some cumin and sugar, and then used that for the dressing with a bit of lemon juice and doused it all over the carrots.
A rough chop of parsley and mint adds colour and freshness, while the feta brings a salty bite.
After I was halfway through eating it, and as I tidied the kitchen, I unearthed some shelled pistachios, which I scattered over top. Not a necessary addition, but a nice one as they offer another hit of saltiness and some lovely crunch.
I am not ashamed to admit, I ate most of it immediately.
The rest I had the next day at lunch — proof this salad works well if made ahead, though I might have waited to add the cheese and pistachios until just before eating.
Not all of my exotic ingredients have led to such successful dishes. But harissa paste?
That will be on my grocery list when the tube runs out.