Family Ties: Carrot Slaw

Although it is more suitable for the summer since it is a cold dish with punchy flavor this slaw can be definitely a compliment to any holiday dish, since its sweetness and flavor can back up everything, from casseroles to steaks and from veggies to fish. It is as simple as it gets, not only in regards to the ingredients but also i regards to the technique and process.

As you should already learn, we will first speak of the history of this root. The most common root in the world, along side the potato and the onion. The wild ancestors of the carrot are likely to have come from Afghanistan, which remains the centre of diversity of D. carota, the wild carrot. The carrot (Daucus carota subsp. sativus, Etymology: Middle French carotte, from Late Latin carōta, from Greek karōton, originally from the Indoeuropean root ker- (horn), due to its horn-like shape) is a root vegetable, usually orange or white, or red-white blend in colour, with a crisp texture when fresh. The edible part of a carrot is a taproot. Selective breeding over the centuries of a naturally-occurring subspecies of the wild carrot, Daucus carota subsp. sativus reducing bitterness, increasing sweetness and minimizing the woody core, has produced the familiar garden vegetable. In early use, carrots were grown for their aromatic leaves and seeds, not their roots. Some relatives of the carrot are still grown for these, such as parsley, fennel, dill, caraway and cumin.The carrot gets its characteristic and bright orange colour from β-carotene, which is metabolised into vitamin A in humans when bile salts are present in the intestines. Massive overconsumption of carrots can cause hypercarotenemia, a condition in which the skin turns orange (although hypercarotenemia is not itself dangerous unlike overdose of vitamin A, which can cause liver damage). Carrots are also rich in dietary fibre, antioxidants, and minerals. A very interesting fact comes form the similarities of carrots with the Dutch soccer team the orange color. The Original color of the carrots was a dark blue which during the 1600 changed to orange to honor an emblem of the House of Orange and the struggle for Dutch independence from France.

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Here, as always are the starts of the dish. Today we have:

  • 1 lb of carrots (less than a n inch in diameter at their thickest part.
  • 1 tbsp light (or dark, your choice) brown sugar
  • 1 tsp caraway seeds
  • 1 tsp cumin (or curry powder)
  • 1/2 tsp celery seeds (optional)
  • salt ( I am not showing salt any more in any of the ingredients because it goes everywhere, what is the point)

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Was the carrots very well, so you on ‘t have to peel them. I know… Evilly smart. I use a sponge with light soapy water to rub the clean.

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Cut the tops of.
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Take your vegetable peeler and pretent you are cleaning them, but instead keep on cutting long thin strips. Rotate the carrot so you evenly make the strips.

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At the end 1 lb. of carrots should look like this.

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Half way done. Now we need to make the dressing marinate. Start with good quality greek drained yogurt. Use the fat free. It will make for a lighter texture.

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About two hip tbsps of it. If you twist my hand I would say half a cup.

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Dumb it in a large bowl.

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Add cumin. We add the cumin because it is in the same botanical family as the carrot. Share similar characteristics and their flavor is oddly similar.

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Follow with caraway seeds for the same reasons. Same botanical family.

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add the brown sugar and…

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The olive oil. So let ‘s see I skipped the fat in the yogurt and add my own fat… Well it is all about the science. I just wanted some fat there to diffuse the spices flavor. However in the refrigerator the milk fat is mostly solidifies, and therefore it is not as effective.

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Mix everything.

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Season with salt. A couple of pinches. With the carrots and the sugar it will be overly sweet. It will be quite thick dressing but it is supposed to be like that. It needs to coat the carrots so it needs to stay on them.

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Add the carrot strips and…

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Stir gently… very gently so you don ‘t break the carrot strips.

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Serve immediately, or chill and keep in the refrigerator till the yogurt expires.

It is a very sweet and tasty dish that can accomodate the average holiday table. And the best of all. It is good for you. It is backed with beta carotene, fiber, minerals. It is essentially a cluster bomb. Just don ‘t eat too much (more than 3 lbs in a day for more than a month) since you may turn orange.

Happy New Years!

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Last modified: June 27, 2013 by Georgios Pyrgiotakis