Spicy Carrot & Chicken Salad
Harissa is a very hot paste made with lots of chillies. It’s commonly found in Tunisia and Morocco and is one of my favourite ingredients. You can buy it online or from good delis. It comes in a tube and is brilliant to keep in the fridge for an instant chilli hit. If you can’t find commercial harissa I’ve included a recipe over here so you can make your own.
enough for: 2
takes: 45 minutes
2 onions finely sliced into 1/2 moons
1 bunch baby carrots, tops reserved
4 chicken thigh fillets, halved lengthwise
1 tablespoon harissa
1 tablespoon sherry or wine vinegar
1. Preheat your oven to 200C (400F). Place onion, carrots and chicken in a roasting tray. Drizzle with a little olive oil. Roast for 30-40 minutes, stirring about half way through.
2. Meanwhile, combine harissa, vinegar and 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil. Season.
3. When the carrots, onion and chicken are cooked remove from the oven and drizzle over the dressing. Serve with carrot tops on the side.
Variations
side salad – skip the chicken if you prefer.
no carrot tops – if your carrot tops aren’t nice (or a non existent) replace with a bag of salad leaves or bunch of flat leaf parsley or coriander leaves.
grown-up carrots – replace baby carrots with 4 regular carrots halved lengthwise.
vegetarian / vegan – replace chicken with a drained can of chickpeas, white beans, mushrooms or eggplant.
no harissa – it’s easy to make your own or replace with any chilli paste such as sambal oleck. You could also substitute 2-4 large fresh red chillies that have been finely chopped.
different veg – also lovely with sweet potato, parsnip, regular potatos, swede or beets. Some veg may need cooking for longer.
more substantial – serve with flat bread or couscous that has been cooked according to the packet with some extra butter added or serve with cooked quinoa, brown rice or boiled potatoes.
low carb – use cauliflower instead of carrots.
short on time – roast at 250C (480F) and reduce cooking time to 20 minutes.
more veg – serve with a green salad or add mushrooms or eggplant with the chicken.
family friendly – use less harissa or serve dressing on the side.
Waste Avoidance Strategy
onions / harissa / sherry or wine vinegar – keep in the pantry.
baby carrots – keep wrapped in a plastic bag in the fridge. Will last for weeks.
chicken thigh – freeze them.
Add to my Old Favourite Recipes
Really enjoyed this last night. Didn’t have new carrots so used older carrots and cooked Romanesco cauliflower instead of the new carrot tops. So easy to make and so very tasty. Will definitely be cooking this one again. The oil and sherry vinegar dressing finished it off beautifully.
Oh yay Jane!
And well done on the substitutions… you’re making me very proud!
You know I’ve never tried Romanesco Cauliflower – next time I see it in the market will definitely buy some and think of you!
Jx
Wow, this was a hit for dinner last night! Its cold & the kids were away so I could go the whole hog with the harissa. Super simple and very tasty. Thanks for the inspiration!
Yum! Julia
We very much enjoyed the Spicy Carrot & Chicken Salad last night. Instead of searching for harissa, I took a big step and used sriracha sauce…a tasty success! Thank you for increasing my confidence in the kitchen, Jules. You ARE making a cook out of me.
Oops! I got it all wrong! I was rushing a bit and roasted the ingredients in the harissa and oil instead of adding it after. No carrot tops so I served on a bed of wild rocket. And realising I’d made a mistake and spotting a wrinkled wedge of lime in the fridge I shrugged a why not and squeezed that over. It was all totally delicious! Will I try the real recipe now? Why bother? But thank you, Jules, for so many good, simple recipes and especially for introducing me to sherry vinegar.
Oh Heather you made me laugh!
So glad you enjoyed the carrot salad. It’s one of my favourites from my new book. I can imagine the addition of lime would have been really lovely!
And very excited to hear I’ve got you hooked on sherry vinegar 🙂
Jx
I feel so silly that I’ve never known that one could eat carrot tops as salad! And to think I’ve been composting them all this time! Thanks for this idea. I wonder what else I’m not using that I could be!?!
I felt the same Jenna when I read it in a cookbook.
One of the other most common ones is broccoli stems.. I finely slice them and cook with the florettes.
Jx