Indian carrot & lamb salad

Tonight was dinner alone for me, and I wanted to have something light but balanced. I also didn’t want it to take a long time to make. I often DVR certain TV Shows and save them for a time when I can later watch them. I have the entire series of Jamie at Home with Jamie Oliver DVR’d. One episode was solely on carrots, and he made this dish rather quickly. It seemed easy enough and looked good. I realized that this would be perfect for tonight.

 

And literally, just as I had hoped, it was quick and easy to make. In the end, it was also really enjoyable. The dressing on the carrots really brought out their flavor and the crunchy yet juicy little bites of lamb with garam masala were delectable. The herbs and sea salt also helped to really complete and pull this dish together. 

 

I took the recipe and divided it by four so that I only made enough for one person. The portion was perfect. I’ll leave you with the entire recipe which is for four people. Enjoy!

 

Recipe: Indian Carrot Salad

From Food TV’s Jamie at Home 

Recipe by Jamie Oliver

 

Ingredients:

1 1/4 pounds good-quality coarsely ground lamb 

2 teaspoons garam masala 

Sea salt 

1 pound carrots (mixed colors if possible), peeled 

1 tablespoon sesame seeds 

A small bunch fresh cilantro, leaves picked 

A small bunch fresh mint, leaves picked

 

For the dressing:
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
3 shallots or 1 small red onion, peeled
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 heaped teaspoon freshly grated ginger
Extra-virgin olive oil

For serving: 

Naan bread
Yogurt
Lemon halves

 

Heat a large frying pan and fry your ground lamb until all the fat comes out of it. Add the garam masala and a good pinch of salt and give it a stir. Keep frying until the meat is lovely and crispy. Shave the carrots into long thin strips with a peeler or a mandoline slicer and set them aside.

 

Heat a small frying pan over a moderate heat and toast the cumin seeds for 30 seconds - they will start to smell nutty and gorgeous. You’re not trying to cook the seeds here, you’re just waking their flavors up a bit. Put them into a pestle and mortar and grind them up. Put the pan back on the heat and toast the sesame seeds until golden. Transfer them to a plate.

 

Slice your peeled shallots or onion wafer thin. As with all salads that contain onion, you don’t want to be coming across great big chunks! If you don’t feel confident about your knife skills, use the coarse side of a box grater instead. This will almost mush your onions to a puree, but at least you won’t come across any big bits.

 

To make your dressing, put the lemon zest and juice into a bowl and add the shallots or onion, grated ginger, ground cumin and a pinch of salt. Whisk everything together with about 5 tablespoons of extra- virgin olive oil. Pour the dressing over the carrots, add the cilantro and mint leaves, and mix it all together using your fingers. It’s important that you have a little taste to check whether the dressing needs more lemon juice, oil or seasoning.

 

Divide the crispy lamb between 4 plates and put the dressed salad on top. Sprinkle with the toasted sesame seeds. Served with naan bread, some yogurt and lemon halves, this makes a great snack!