The British organic carrot has been named as the millennial’smust–have, with the organic market booming. Organic sales topped £2.2bn in its sixth consecutive year of growth, according to Soil Association’s recently launched 2018 Organic Market Report.
Choosing organic means choosing food as it should be. Whatever you’re buying, when you choose organic, youchoose products that have been produced to the higheststandards. Soil Association Certification certify over 70% of organic food in the UK. Organic always means fewerpesticides, no artificial additives or preservatives, some of thehighest standards of animal welfare and no GM ingredients.
Incorporate organic into your everyday, with the help of this delicious recipe.
Crushed Carrot Salad with Crispy Spiced Chickpeas &Kefir Dressing
Serves 2, prep 15 mins, cook 25 mins
Ingredients
40g flaked almonds
1 tin chickpeas
Light olive oil
800g carrots
1 lemon
½ red onion
15g mint
30g parsley
1 garlic clove
50g watercress
1 tsp Dijon mustard
70ml kefir
2 tsp honey
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp smoked paprika
Method
Preheat oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6. Toast the almonds on aroasting tray for 2-3 minutes until lightly golden in colour. Becareful not to burn them. Meanwhile, drain the chickpeas andrinse under cold water. Tip them into the clean tea towel andpat them as dry as you can.
Remove the almonds, throw them with a dash of oil and apinch of salt. Keep to one side. Place the chickpeas in theroasting tray with 2 tablespoons of oil and season well withsalt and pepper. Mix well and spread them out so they areone layer deep.
Peel the carrots and cut into equal sized angled wedges, about2cm by 5cm. Zest and juice the lemon.
Pop the carrots into another baking tray. Add half of thelemon juice, 2 tablespoons of water and enough oil togenerously coat the carrots. Season with salt and pepper. Mixwell and tightly cover the tray with foil. Place the chickpeason the top oven shelf and the carrots on the shelf below.
Roast for 20 minutes. Giving the chickpeas a turn twiceduring cooking. They should be a golden nutty brown. Remove early if they look like burning. Prepare the rest ofthe veg by peeling and very finely slicing half of the redonion. Wash the mint and parsley, shake them dry.
Pick the leaves off both and finely chop them separately. Peeland finely chop or crush 1 garlic clove. Wash and dry thewatercress. Make the dressing by whisking the mustard andhalf the garlic with the kefir. Season with salt and pepper, and stir in the mint.
Remove the carrots and chickpeas from the oven. Remove thefoil from the carrots. Mix in the honey and return to the ovenfor 10-15 minutes until tender. Add the cumin, paprika andhalf the chopped parsley to the chickpeas. Mix well and leaveto cool slightly.
When the carrots are ready, give them a rough bash with awooden spoon or potato masher. You want to lightly smash them into coarse pieces. Do this in the roasting tray so as theysoak up the lemony oil.
Mix the warm crushed carrots with the spiced chickpeas, red onion and watercress. Divide it equally between 2 plates. Artfully spoon the dressing across the salad. Scatter over thealmonds, remaining parsley and a little lemon zest.
XOXO
Debbie