On a recent evening, while grating a carrot for my usual salad (“Take Time for Salad,” March 23, 2023), I thought how much I like them. And it shows: A quick survey of the dishes whose recipe I have shared on this column brings up several that showcase the sweet root vegetable, including Indonesian orak arik (“Game for Indonesian Vegetable Scramble,” May 3, 2018), Belgian wortelstoemp (“A Hearty Belgian Mash,” April 20, 2017) and carrot and goat cheese tart (“Hooray for Carrots — for Once,” June 4, 2015).
In the article about the tart, I mentioned a carrot salad with yogurt my husband and I ate during lunch the day we visited the ancient city of Ephesus, on the Turkish west coast in September of 2013. We reached Turkey via ferry from the nearby Greek island of Samos, then a van drove us to Ephesus. A young Turkish woman was our guide for the day.
After walking under a glaring sun around the stately ruins of what was one of the largest and most important cities in the ancient Mediterranean world, having lunch in the shade provided by wide-crowned trees felt like a gift from the gods honored in the city. We were served a spread of mezedes (appetizers). Among the small plates, the bowl of carrot salad dressed with yogurt became a prime target for my husband’s fork and mine. It is a simple combination of sautéed shredded carrots and dense yogurt, whose light tartness balances the carrots’ sweetness. A hint of garlic completes the flavor profile. So simple, so satisfying.
In some recipes, chopped dill or parsley are also used to dress the salad. My version does not include herbs, keeping close to the nice memory of my first taste. Rather than using raw garlic, I prefer to sauté it together with the carrots.
The carrots used at the restaurant were the more common orange ones. You can certainly use rainbow carrots to make the salad (I have). I like carrots of all colors (the pigments are all valuable for our health) and I like when, among those I pick up at the farmers market or grocery store, there is one with a less-standard shape. Carrots bring their colorful, sweet, crunchy personality to the table.
This is a lovely salad, nourishing and refreshing. It can be served as an appetizer, mezze-style, accompanied with flatbread, or as a side dish.
Carrot and Yogurt Salad
The richer the yogurt, the richer the salad — choose what you prefer in the range from whole milk to nonfat.
Serves 2.
Ingredients:
8 ounces fresh carrots
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 ounces (¼ cup) plain Greek yogurt
1 ounce (2 tablespoons) plain yogurt
1 clove of garlic, minced
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt, or to taste
Scrub the carrots well and scrape the surface to remove a thin layer of skin. Grate the carrots using the extra-coarse side of a hand grater.
Heat the olive oil in a nonstick skillet on medium-low heat. Add the garlic and stir. After 1 minute, add the grated carrots and stir well. Cook the carrots 4-5 minutes until just softened, stirring often.
Transfer the carrots to a bowl, sprinkle the salt and toss. Let the carrot cool to room temperature.
Spoon both yogurts on the carrots and toss well.
Cover the bowl and chill the salad until close to serving time. Take it out of the refrigerator ahead of time so that it is not too cold when served.
Simona Carini (she/her) also writes about her adventures in the kitchen on her blog pulcetta.com and shares photographs on Instagram @simonacarini. She particularly likes to create still lives with produce from the farmers market.
This article appears in Port of Entry.