Thank you to our Recipe Co-Curator, Vinola Vincent Munyon, for the excellent cooking demonstration on our June 2^nd national webinar. You can watch the recording HERE and get the recipe below.

Ingredients:

For the salad

6 cups carrots, washed and grated (use multi-colored carrots to make the dish more colorful)
1 can chickpeas
1 cup cooked couscous
½ cup grated almonds
½ cup dried cherries
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh mint and cilantro
2 tsp olive oil
Salt – to taste

For the dressing*

2 tbsp Harissa
1 tbsp raw honey
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
4 tbsp orange juice
¼ cup olive oil
1/8 tsp salt

Equipment:

Oven
Baking tray with parchment
Saute pan
Salad bowl
Mason jar or small bowl and whisk

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425F.
2. Drain the can of chickpeas and let them dry on paper towels. (The chickpeas crisp up better if they are dry.)
3. Spread the dry chickpeas on the parchment-lined tray and sprinkle salt liberally and drizzle olive oil over the chickpeas.
4. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until chickpeas are crisp.
5. Cook the couscous according to package instructions.
6. Toast the slivered almonds on a low flame, just for a minute or so until golden. Keep a close eye so they don’t brown or bur.n
7. Add the grated carrots, crisped chickpeas, cooked couscous, toasted almonds, dried cherries, and herbs to a salad bowl.
8. Mix all the ingredients for the dressing in a mason jar and shake well (or small bowl and whisk well) until it is creamy, and all layers are well mixed.
9. Drizzle as much of the dressing as desired over the salad and toss to mix and serve.

Notes:

This salad is customizable to your taste.

For carrots, fresh grated is best for this salad. Do not recommend using bagged, pre-grated/shredded carrots.

The chickpeas can be served as is but crisping them adds a crunchy element to the salad. Likewise, with the slivered almonds.

Cherries can be substituted with other dried fruit such as dried prunes, dried plums, raisins, or cranberries.

Cilantro and mint can be substituted with parsley.

For sweeter dressing, add more honey/less harissa

The lemon zest adds some tartness to the salad, can omit if you prefer less tartness. If using, remember to zest before you juice.