Carrot Salad with Coriander and Sesame Salt

This recipe was originally published in Bon Appétit as a beet and carrot salad. However, I’m not crazy about raw beets, so I decided to use a mix of orange and purple carrots instead. This keeps the nice color of the salad, but is more to my taste. If your carrots have purple peel and orange flesh, you can use only those instead of throwing in orange carrots. The recipe below makes a lot, about 8 servings as a side dish (fewer if you’re having only salad for lunch, for example); feel free to halve the recipe. I loved the finished result, and the sea salt with sesame seeds sprinkled on top of the salad really made it come alive. I served some as a side dish to a frittata, and had some plain for lunch.

3 ½ Tbsp minced shallot
3 Tbsp plus 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
½ tsp finely grated orange zest plus 2 Tbsp fresh orange juice
1 Tbsp white miso (fermented soybean paste)
1 tsp finely grated peeled fresh ginger
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil (I used the last of my avocado oil here instead)
1 ½ tsp coriander seeds
2 Tbsp sesame seeds
¾ tsp coarse kosher salt
2 lbs of carrots, a mixture of orange and purple

Whisk shallot, vinegar, orange zest and juice, miso, and ginger in a medium bowl. Let stand 10 minutes to allow flavors to blend. Gradually whisk in oil.

Toast coriander seeds in small skillet over medium heat until beginning to brown, about 2 minutes. Cool. Transfer to spice mill; process until coarsely ground. Add sesame seeds to same skillet. Toast over medium heat until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Add ¾ tsp coarse salt; stir 30 seconds. Transfer sesame salt to small bowl and cool.

Using shredding disc on processor or a box grater, coarsely grate carrots. Transfer vegetables to large bowl. Add enough dressing to coat lightly. Add coriander and 1 Tbsp sesame salt. Toss to coat. Let marinate at room temperature 30 minutes. Season salad to taste with salt and pepper.

Toss salad, adding additional dressing, if desired. Sprinkle with remaining sesame salt and serve.