Vinaigrette: ¼ cup olive oil 1 small red onion, finely sliced 1 tsp cumin seeds ½ cup cider vinegar 200ml tomato juice ½ tsp Dijon mustard 1 tsp salt ¼ cup currants or raisins*⅓ cup of raw honey Salad: 500g baby carrots, green tips removed 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed ½ cup roughly chopped mint plus ¼ 1cup to serve
Method
Step 1 Add sliced citrus to a big pot or bucket and add all the water. Ideally leave it overnight for 24 hours.
Step 1 Pour oil into a small saucepan, over medium heat sauté onion for 2 minutes, add cumin seeds, sauté a further 2 minutes.
Step 2 Add cider vinegar to the onion mix, remove from the heat. Whisk in the remaining ingredients except honey. (We add this at the end when it is luke warm to preserve the natural goodness in raw honey).
Step 3 Scrub the carrots with a vegetable brush, no need to peel these. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Tip all the carrots into blanch them for 2 minutes. Drain the carrots into a large colander and then refresh in cold water.
Step 4 Using a very sharp knife, finely slice the carrot into thin lengths. Alternatively use a peeling tool ** that allows a thick slice to be removed. Place the carrots into a large lidded container.
Step 5 Add the honey to the prepared vinaigrette. Taste and season with ground pepper. Pour vinaigrette over the carrots. Cover and shake to toss. Keep chilled for minimum 2 hours, or leave overnight for the flavours to mingle. Scatter with fresh mint to serve.
*If using raisins, roughly chop into smaller pieces. ** Special peelers can be found at kitchen stores and are good for this purpose or a mandolin.