Carrot-Cumin-Carrot Salad

This may very well be my lasting legacy ... I'm immodestly proud of how tasty it is.

Dressing:

2 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted until just fragrant in a dry pan (30 to 90 seconds)
0.5 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon sugar
1.5 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon rice vinegar
4 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons sesame oil
Ginger syrup (see below)

 

Vegetables:

Except where noted all the ingredients are steamed until tender

1 cup raisins
6 medium carrots

Chop the tender top off each carrot; grate these tips, mix with raisins, set aside
Quarter the denser carrot bottoms lengthwise then slice in 0.25 inch bits

1 cup whole pearl onions, whole
3 medium beets, peeled, quartered & sliced same as carrots

1 cup shelled edamame (young soy beans)

 

 

 

Toss the steamed vegetables in a large bowl, mixing in the raw grated carrot and raisins

Combine the dressing ingredients in a jar, shake like crazy, then toss with the salad.

Refrigerate for a minimum of 3 hours (it tastes even better on the fourth day if you can resist its call that long.)
 

Ginger Syrup

4 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons sugar
LOTS of fresh ginger: for 6 servings I used a slice 1.5 inches diameter and .25 inch high, peeled and sliced very thin

mix  and simmer around 5 minutes

VARIATIONS: replace the beets with two more carrots. Sugar snap or snow peas add some green. Radishes could zing things up considerably. If you're not a ginger fan, you can saute up to 4 cloves of garlic in the sesame oil before mixing up the dressing.
 

Very Loosely Based on a NYTimes Style Section Recipe from the Late 1980s.