Aarti Sequeira’s Moroccan Carrot Salad with Parsley

Most salad lovers would agree that what makes their plate of produce extra delicious is its dressing.

Food Network star Aarti Sequeira’s Moroccan Carrot Salad with Parsley is bursting with texture and flavor, thanks to her clever use of a humble caramelized lemon. Here’s how the chef puts this simple but sophisticated dish together.

Sequeira’s recipe puts your spice rack to great use

The Aarti Party host’s carrot salad features one sliced and quartered lemon, extra-virgin olive oil, ground cumin, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, cayenne pepper, orange juice and zest, peeled and grated carrots, chopped fresh parsley, and toasted pine nuts.

With generous use of warm spices, the parsley, and of course, lemon, Sequeira presents a unique way to give carrots a boost of flavor in this salad. 

Her ingenious caramelization of sliced lemon amps this dish’s flavor way up.

Her salad recipe starts in a skillet

The My Family Recipe Journal author begins this salad not in a bowl, but in a skillet.

She caramelizes the sliced lemon in a “generous amount of oil” over low heat “until the rinds soften and begin to brown and caramelize.” Low-cooking the lemon slices in oil doesn’t just produce a gorgeously crystallized lemon; it also creates a smoky, sweet, citrusy salad dressing that takes the grated carrots to a whole new level of flavor.

While the lemons are cooking (which Sequeira estimates should take about 20 minutes), the spices, orange zest, and juice are combined in a bowl. As you whisk the mixture, add the oil “in a thin stream until the dressing reaches your desired consistency.”

Toss in the carrots, parsley, and pine nuts, along with the caramelized lemon pieces, tasting as you go along in case more salt or pepper is needed.

Add small amounts of the lemon dressing, until this carrot salad is exactly where you want it with acidity and flavor.

Get the complete recipe and reviews on Food Network’s site.

Reviewers praised Sequeira’s elegant spin on carrot salad

Home cooks on Food Network’s site thanked the culinary personality for taking carrot salad from humdrum to refined.

“My wife and I made this together and it tastes awesome. We’re very happy we caught your show today, otherwise we would not have known about this recipe. Thanks!,” wrote one reviewer.

Another fan of Sequeira’s recipe added, “I made this for my family tonight and it was really good! I put in all the lemon oil and just one pinch of cayenne. The flavors are delicate and complex.”

Some reviewers recommended adjusting the amount of cumin in the recipe was in order, feeling that the spice could have been cut back some: “A little too much cumin for me,” and “I think the cumin flavor was just too strong for me.” 

Lastly, another home cook noted that the lemon-oil dressing’s benefit and downfall is its strong flavor, cautioning a light hand with it: “Be careful with your lemon oil – I dumped it all in at once and it was a little too bitter for me. Use a little, taste, and add more as you see fit.”