A little delayed, but as promised, recipe 1 of 3.

As previously mentioned, we have an abundance of carrots, so I went a little rabbity and made some really delicious items with fresh picked carrots from the garden. Our dogs of course got some of the carrots during prep. If I appease them with bits and bites while I am using the carrots, then they don’t scheme ways to get into the carrot patch to help themselves to the orange, crunchy goodness.

My initial reason for picking some carrots was to make and Asian inspired carrot slaw to go with our dinner. So let’s start with that recipe.

INGREDIENTS

~ 2 medium to large carrots shredded

~ 1 cup broccoli florets

~ 1 cup broccoli stems julienned

~ Small bundle of red basil (approx 10 leaves)

~ 4 sprigs of thyme

~ 1-2 scallions, sliced into angled slices

~ 1/8 cup of rice wine vinegar

~ 1-2 tsp sugar (your preference for sweetness)

~ 2 tsp sesame oil

~ 2 tsp soy sauce

~ 2-3 garlic cloves minced

~ 1/2 tbsp grapeseed oil

~ sprinkle of dried chilli flakes (your preference for heat)

– 2 tbsp sesame seeds toasted

DIRECTIONS

1. Prepare your sauce. Whisk together the rice wine vinegar and sugar until sugar is dissolved. Add sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic cloves, grapeseed oil and chilli flakes. Whisk until combined. Refrigerate while making the salad.

2. Shred the carrots. I used my food processor but you can use a cheese shredder, knife or mandolin. Put shredded carrots into a medium size bowl.

3. Remove florets from the broccoli and break into small bite-size pieces. Add to the carrots.

4. Peel the broccoli stems. Depending on your broccoli, you don’t have to peel it, but I find the larger stems a little fibrous. Julienne the stems and add to the bowl.

5. Finely chop the red basil and add it to the bowl. Strip the thyme from the stems and add to the bowl.

6. Dress the slaw with the Asian dressing that has been chilling in the fridge. You may not want to use all of it, depending on how strong you want the flavour. Give it a good stir or shake before dressing the salad.

7. Slice the scallions. I sliced mine on an angle to pair with the look of the salad. Feel free to slice them however you like. They can also be julienned for curly scallions. Place scallions on top of the salad.

8. In a small pan, place the sesame seeds over a medium heat. Still constantly for 2-3 minutes or until fragrant and lightly browned. Sprinkle over the salad.

9. Dig in and enjoy! Pair it with your favourite Asian dish.