Beautiful Carrot and Peanut Salad

I remember the first time I came across this salad. It was in Nigella’s Forever Summer book. Carrots are such beautiful looking things. Fell in love and said to myself ‘must give it a go’. The recipe is originally entitled ‘The Rainbow Room’s Carrot and Peanut Salad’ in case you look for it. In the book you can read about the recipe and its place in Nigella’s life. I won’t go into that. I just love the simplicity of its ingredients, its crunchiness – there is an awful lot of chewing there, the amazing taste and texture that the peanuts add to it in conjunction with the carrots. If you like it a repeat will be no trouble. The red wine vinegar in the sauce might sound a bit strange but go beyond the initial reaction as it plays an important role in the lovely end-result.

One thing that I want to recommend is that the carrots are grated coarsely or that you cut them in chopstick thickness. I believe very strongly that this salad doesn’t work well if you just grate the carrots finely as a lot of the texture will be gone.

4 medium carrots peeled and coarsely grated or cut into chopstick shape

75g salted peanuts

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons groundnut oil

Few drops sesame oil

Throw the carrots in a salad dish followed by the peanuts and give it a good mix. In a separate container add the vinegar, groundnut and sesame oil. Pour it over the salad and just have a good time chewing away. Crunch, crunch…