carrot and seed salad

My husband brought me home the Rose Bakery cookbook as a little surprise one day. Filled with great photographs and a nice collection of recipes, I was excited to make something from it. However, entertaining an almost-eight-month-old often keeps me from the kitchen. I noticed he was flipping through the pages yesterday and consequently the bunch of carrots I picked up from the farmers market found its way to the counter. He set out to make the carrot seed salad. Sounded good to me.

Eight medium carrots, grated. Place in a serving bowl.

One cup of pumpkin seeds (or sunflower seeds) tossed with one tablespoon of canola oil (or sunflower oil), seasoned with salt, spread out evenly on a baking tray and put in a 350 degree oven, tossed frequently until lightly roasted and crisp, about 15 minutes. Cool.

The dressing is equally as simple. Half cup of lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of salt, half teaspoon of ground black pepper, and one tablespoon of superfine sugar are whisked together.  Once combined, about three tablespoons of olive oil (or sunflower oil) is whisked in. Can be adjusted to your liking by adding more salt, sugar, or lemon juice.

Pour dressing over the carrots and mix well.

Sprinkle with seeds and a handful of chopped chives. Done.

The combination of the carrots with the toasted pumpkin seeds and the tangy lemon juice is so yummy. Perfect in it's simplicity. I couldn't stop "tasting" it as we cooked the rest of our dinner.