I'm enjoying a gorgeous Texas Spring morning out on my back patio, listening to the songs of the birds and the sound of the breeze through the heart-shaped leaves of the cottonwood tree, sipping iced coffee and spooning leftover carrot salad onto slices of homemade sourdough.

This is a moment too good not to share, I thought, and since you can't be here with me on this patio helping me polish off the leftovers, I thought I'd clue you in in how to make your own.

This mostly-Moroccan carrot salad is good year round, but seems especially appropriate in Spring. The carrots in our Farmbox have been SO sweet and delicious lately, and the floral fragrance of good, real rosewater is ALWAYS one of my favorite things, but Spring especially calls for more floral foods, I feel. Even honey feels like Spring to me, and what kind of Spring would it be without fresh green herbs? Spice it up a little with some ground cinnamon and ras el hanout, and voilà, you've got yourself my personal take on Moroccan Carrot Salad.

Perusing cookbooks and recipe blogs, you'll find that there are almost as many different takes on Moroccan carrot salad as there are bunches of carrots, and I've never had one I didn't like… but the sweet floral kind is my favorite (whether because I'll never say no to desert for dinner or because I'm a simp for flowers I'll never tell). I've made and improvised a bunch of versions of this throughout the years, but this one is (to my mind) the best one I've ever improvised, so I thought maybe I should write it down.

Most ground cinnamon and cinnamon sticks sold in stores is actually ground cassia—I mention this because if you are the sort of person who hunts down your own true cinnamon and grinds it yourself, you will want cassia for this - or maybe you won't, but that's what I used.

Ras el Hanout is a Moroccan blend of anywhere from seven to forty-two different ground spices. I had the good fortunate to pick some up in Morocco when I visited, and have tried many since I ran out. I've only been satisfied with two: Morton & Bassett, and Spiceology. The Morton & Bassett one is very small, and the Spiceology one is very large, so if you love cooking and you love Moroccan food, get the big one and put it in and on everything from sweet potatoes to scrambled eggs, and you will go through it very quickly. If you just want to try it, hunt down the little one, or split the big one with a few friends. I have also mixed up my own Ras el Hanout blend with Young Living Vitality essential oils, and found it to be more than satisfactory - perhaps I will include the recipe for that in another post.

As for the rosewater, make sure you are using true food-grade rosewater, and not some rose-scented water for perfumery. I got mine from a local herb shop, but any Arabic or middle eastern grocery will carry it - ask if it's for cooking if you're not sure.

Please also do yourself a favor and use good real honey, not that awful honey-flavored corn syrup some stores still have the nerve to sell. Better if it's raw, even better if it's local. All I'm saying is don't come complaining to me about how the recipe isn't good if you're not using the best versions of the ingredients you can get your hands on. The ingredients make the meal.

In true kitchen witch style, there are no amounts here except for the carrots and the lemon, because I didn't measure anything, only I stored it in a 1-quart container, so I can be pretty sure it was about a quart of shredded carrots (although they seem to shrink a bit after you add the liquid), and I only had half a lemon (for shame!) which turned out to be perfect for this amount of carrots. The best way to know if the amounts are right is to taste as you go and adjust as needed. Start with a light hand and go up from there until you’d rather eat it than do anything else to it.

Ingredients

1 qt shredded carrots
Splash of rosewater
a hearty squeeze of raw honey
Juice of half a lemon
Chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
Chopped fresh spearmint
Ground cinnamon (cassia)
Ras el hanout

Directions

Mix liquid ingredients together and pour over carrots. Turn to distribute evenly. Sprinkle with spices and herbs to taste and mix well.

You can mix this up a day ahead so it is ready to plate when you are.

If desired, garnish with additional fresh herbs or, if you have a lot of time on your hands, carrots carved into flowers - speaking of which, I bet fresh thyme would be delicious in this as well!

Moroccan salads are typically served (several at a time) with fresh baked bread, scooped up with the bread, and eaten that way. However, this is so good you could make it as a side dish and eat it straight, or for a tea party you could toast up some fresh crostinis, assemble them on a tray, and garnish each crostini individually with a sprig of fresh parsley. (In fact, I might have to plan a tea party now.)

As for the recipes that inspired this, it's a combination of versions I've had throughout Morocco and at various Moroccan restaurants, plus several recipes I referenced in Paula Wolfert's Couscous and Other Good Food From Morocco, which is a truly wonderful cookbook and a delight to read.

The flowers on my table are a mix of store-bought (alstroemeria, hypericum, and roses) and wildflowers from my front yard (Prairie Vervain, Engelmann Daisies, and two I haven't yet identified: the creamy umbelliferous bunches which might possibly be from a Rusty Blackhaw, and the tall little yellow ones who won't yet tell me their name).

I do hope you try this, and let me know how you like it if you do! Above all, please go outside, get your feet on the earth, breathe the fresh air, and admire the green growing things. You won't regret it.

Love, Vervain 🌹

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