Carrot salad is something you’ve probably
had with redundancy. Likely alongside
picnic potato salad or waffle fries. Often upstaged by something piggy.
Hardly deserving of a special introduction.
Unless it’s good enough to voluntarily make
three times in a week. Especially
if two of those times occur on vacation. Then it might be worthy of a little discussion.
I first made this salad out of arguable
necessity on the island of Sint Maarten.
There we drank a lot of mojitos and Caribs, and ate chicken and rib platters saddled with four starch sides at a “lolo” called Sky’s the Limit, because
a man named Elvis said so.
Hot damn Elvis was right.
It was the best thing we ate on the island. You probably know where I am going with our second best. We were lucky to
have a small kitchen in our room and access to a grocery store that stocked
carrots as big as hammers.
We also had mint, leftover from the mojito-making. And dates, leftover from Christmas that
my mother thriftily packed in her suitcase. And orange juice, with a little booze in it, leftover from
my plane ride to the island.
Because I do not like to fly.
Throw in some lime, because it’s a crime to
go without it when drinking Carib beer.
And some mayo, because eating a tuna sandwich with a little sand
in it is pretty much a necessity on any beach vacation. And the rest, as they say, is history.
When we weren’t gushing about our good
fortune of Creole chicken plates and Elvis, we were eating this salad. Because it is very, very good. The dates add a caramel depth that
the more traditional raisin addition leaves out. The citrus punches up the carrot,
while the mint adds a peppery, grassy edge.
The splash of rum is really a tribute to Old Man Guavaberry, the distillery on the island. I brought a bottle home because, well, who can
resist something like that?
To be sure it wasn’t the ocean—or our
special island hammer carrots—I made the salad again this week. It was just as good as it was in the Caribbean at happy hour. The view isn’t quite as nice now, which you can
clearly see below.
But it's not so bad seeing carrot salad and a bottle of Old Man Guava at home, either.
But it's not so bad seeing carrot salad and a bottle of Old Man Guava at home, either.
Carrot Salad with Mint and Dates
Ingredients:
1 bunch of carrots (about 5 large or 7 to 8
small), peeled and shredded
juice of ½ a lime
1 to 2 tbsp
orange juice
4 to 5 tbsp of mayo
splash of rum, bourbon, etc. (about a tsp or two)
1 to 2 sprigs of
mint, leaves taken off and roughly chopped
8 to 10 pitted dates,
roughly chopped
pinch or two of
red pepper flakes
salt, to taste
Instructions:
Place the
shredded carrots in a bowl and add remaining ingredients; stir well. Taste and adjust seasoning. (For the ingredients
given in ranges, start with the smaller amount and add more as needed.)
Pair with obligatory rum
cocktail.
Makes about ¾
quart
Notes:
-There is a link
above explaining a “lolo,” but essentially it is a small roadside BBQ joint. I highly suggest reading about Sky’s the Limit too.
-This is
definitely a salad with a carefree island attitude; it’s easily
adjustable. The hardest part is the shredding.
-I’m sure you can
leave off the booze. But it’s fun
to add a little vacation in.
