Midweek Meals: 5 ways to glam up humble carrots and parsnips

Root vegetables are still in season - here's how to take hardy Irish-mealtime perennials and give them a glow-up

Carrots and parsnips - unglamourous root veg get their glow-up this season

Moroccan Carrot Salad

This is an easy salad to put together and is a great crowd feeder. It keeps well too, so it’s perfect for lunches during the week.

Servings

2

Preparation Time

 60 mins

Cooking Time

 15 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 15 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 Middle Eastern

Ingredients

• 500g carrots (or 400g carrots and 100g turnip)

• 30g fresh coriander, leaves and stalks chopped, plus extra to garnish

• 1 garlic clove, crushed

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin rapeseed oil

• 1 tablespoon harissa sauce or 1/2 tablespoon shop-bought harissa paste

• 1 tablespoon finely chopped preserved lemon (optional)

• 1 teaspoon sea salt

• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

• 2 toasted flaked almonds

Method

1. Peel the carrots (and turnip, if using) and grate by hand or in a food processor.

2. In a large bowl, mix the grated carrots with all the remaining ingredients except the almonds.

3. Leave for 1 hour (or overnight in the fridge if you have time) to allow the flavours to marry.

4. To serve, garnish with the chopped roasted almonds and extra coriander leaves.

Andrew Duncan’s Macamore Buffalo Carpaccio, Mount Leinster Raw Milk Cheddar, Pickled Baby Carrots, Basil Aioli, Hazelnuts

Special thanks to Andrew Duncan from Table Forty One Restaurant, Main Street in Gorey who shared this recipe - tablefortyone.ie

Servings

6

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• Buffalo Carpaccio:

• 300g centre cut of buffalo fillet, from macamorebuffalo.ie

• 5g fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped

• 5g fennel seeds

• 5g ground ginger

• 5g ground nutmeg

• 5g ground cloves

• 10g ground white pepper

• 5g ground coriander

• 5g ground cinnamon 20g caster sugar 10g Achill Island sea salt

• Pickled Baby Carrots:

• 10 baby carrots, peeled, leaving the green top on them 100ml white wine vinegar 100ml water 100ml granulated sugar pinch of sea salt 1 tsp mustard seeds 1 shallot, peeled and sliced

• 1 sprig of fresh thyme

• Basil Aioli:

• ¼ clove of garlic, finely chopped into a paste

• 2 egg yolks, organic or free-range eggs are best 1 tsp Dijon mustard 300ml Irish extra-virgin rapeseed oil. I use a local brand called Wild About.

• 50g fresh basil leaves ½ unwaxed lemon, zest only

• pinch of Achill Island sea salt

Method

1. Buffalo Carpaccio:

2. Mix all the dry cure ingredients; this should be a dry, sandy texture.

3. Rub the dry cure onto the buffalo fillet, making sure to coat it evenly.

4. Place on a tray, cover in clingfilm, and leave in the fridge for 6 hours; turn once and leave for another 6 hours.

5. Remove the fillet from the tray and place on some kitchen paper. There should be some liquid in the bottom of the tray. This is normal as the sugar and salt draw moisture from the fillet.

6. With some kitchen paper or a clean towel, dry off any excess moisture from the fillet.

7. Place a double layer of clingfilm onto your counter and place the fillet in the middle.

8. Roll as tightly as possible in clingfilm and twist both ends of the film to make a cylinder shape. Return to the fridge for 2 hours, allowing the fillet to rest and be easier to slice.

9. Slice as thinly as possible using a very sharp knife. A handy tip to aid slicing is to place your fillet in the freezer for 20-30 minutes before slicing.

10. Pickled baby carrots:

11. Slice the carrots in half lengthways and place them into a medium-sized bowl.

12. Bring the rest of the ingredients to the boil in a medium-sized saucepan, making sure to dissolve all the sugar.

13. Pour the hot pickling liquid over the carrots and allow them to cool.

14. Basil Aioli:

15. Place the garlic paste, egg yolk and mustard into a blender. Turn the blender on a low setting and slowly dribble in the oil.

16. Once blended in a quarter of the oil and you see the mixture is thick and emulsified, you can increase the speed and add the rest in larger amounts.

17. Blend in the fresh basil leaves and lemon zest.

18. Season to taste with sea salt.

19. To Serve:

20. Place five slices of thin Buffalo onto the centre of the plate, making a petal shape by layering one over the other at the edges.

21. Dot the aioli randomly over the Buffalo. Place five pieces of baby carrots on top.

22. Using a vegetable peeler, shave your Mount Leinster cheddar over the plate, 6-7 slices approx.

23. Scatter over some chopped hazelnuts.

24. The plate should look rustic and flat on the plate. I like to garnish this dish with some microcress and a bit of smoked Achill Island sea salt for a special touch.