carrot, dill and white bean salad

[Guest guest]

[Ed.--I've been craving cooked carrots lately, and this is absolutely

delicious. It's from Heidi Swanson's multi-award-winning " 101

Cookbooks " food blog, and if you don't to that one and you

like healthy, _extremely_ tasty food that doesn't take forever or cost a

fortune, you're missing out; Doug Irvine turned me on to it, and I've

never gotten a less-than- excellent recipe there. Nary one. It's

low-volume, mercifully NOT ad-based and blessedly spam-free. To

, just visit the site www.101cookbooks.com and enter your email

address.]

 

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*Carrot, Dill & White Bean Salad*

 

/I like to buy young carrots at the farmers' market - slice them

slightly thicker

than a banana chip for this salad. /

 

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon fine-grain salt

1/2 cup thinly sliced shallots

[Chileheads, add three or more minced serranos, to taste.

This will handle considerable heat.]

 

More olive oil (or ghee) for cooking

2 cups sliced carrots, cut 1/4-inch thick on deep bias

3 cups cooked [or canned and rinsed] white beans

scant 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill [or your favorite herb(s)]

2 Tablespoons brown sugar (or honey)

1/3 cup sliced almonds [or cashews or pecans], toasted

 

Combine the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and shallots in a small bowl.

Stir and set aside.

 

In your largest skillet over medium high heat, toss the carrots with a

splash of olive oil or a spoonful of ghee (I love ghee with carrots).

Let them cook in a single layer - they'll give off a bit of water at

first. Keep cooking, tossing gently every three or four minutes until

the carrots are deeply browned. All told, about twelve minutes.

 

Add the beans and dill to the skillet and cook for another five minutes,

or until the beans as well heated through. If you are using beans that

weren't canned you can allow them to brown a bit as well (just cook a

bit longer, and stir less frequently) - they can handle this in a way

that most canned beans can't. If you need to add a bit more olive oil to

the pan - do so.

 

Place the contents of the skillet in a large mixing bowl, sprinkle with

the brown sugar and pour the 3/4 of the lemon-olive oil mixture over the

top. Toss gently. Let sit for ten minutes. Toss gently once again, taste

and adjust with more salt or sugar or lemon juice if needed to balance

the flavors.

 

Serves 6 - 8 as a side [or 4 as a meal with cooked greens and rice, pita

or non-sweet cornbread alongside. Great with buttermilk or original Silk.]

 

Source: Heidi Swanson

 

Keep on rockin',

Rain

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