Harissa Chickpea & Roast Carrot Salad with Feta
This week we harvest the first carrots of the season. I don’t know why but the carrots we grow here at Laurelbank Farm are pretty awesome. They taste like carrots in a way that shop-bought carrots can’t compete with. It’s not the variety we grow (I’ve tested several and they are all delicious) so it must be something to do with how they are grown - the soil and/or the lack of all pesticides and herbicides and soluble fertilisers. I may not have figured out the secret to growing delicious carrots, but luckily for me it keeps happening. This year has been a bit of a struggle with lots of wet weather after sowing the seeds, and lots of loss of seedlings to slugs, but we resowed and the carrots are coming along nicely now.
I love roasted carrots. It’s such a lovely way to enjoy them. This warm salad is very much inspired by an instagram story that Laura sent me a few weeks ago - she said “you have to make this” and I agreed that the combination sounded pretty good - so this is my own version.
Serve 4 as a side
1 can of chickpeas, drained (400g)
1 tablespoon harissa paste (I use rose harrisa)
small bunch of carrots
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 generous teaspoon cumin seeds
salt and pepper
300ml greek yoghurt (or sour cream)
200g feta
sprig of flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Preheat an oven to 200*C (fan)
Drain the tin of chickpeas and then place in a large baking tray (so there is plenty of space) with the harissa paste. Mix thoroughly so the chickpeas are coated.
Wash the carrots (I don’t bother to peel new season carrots) and cut the large ones lengthway in half or quarterly so they are all approximately the same thickness.
Place the carrots in a second baking tray with the olive oil, cumin seeds, salt and pepper and mix thoroughly so the carrots are coated.
Roast the chickpeas and carrots in the oven for 20 minutes, or longer until the chickpeas are crispy and the carrots are tender and nicely browned.
When you are ready to serve, spoon the yoghurt onto a serving plate and spread it out using the back of a spoon. Pile on the roasted carrots and the chickpeas. Top with crumbled feta and chopped parsley.
