Shredded Carrot and Walnut Salad Recipe

Delicious food doesn't have to be complicated. Today I made carottes rapées, which is a staple in French cuisine and requires almost no complicated preparation. This version isn't completely authentic because of a few enhancements I made. Specifically, once the carrots were "rapées" (shredded), I added freshly shredded Parmesan cheese, a few capers, fresh dill and sesame caramelized walnuts. 

There's a saying in French: "Mange des carottes, ça rend aimable!", which translates to "eat carrots, they will make you become more kind". The saying owes its origin to the donkey, which has a reputation for being very stubborn. Carrots were used as, well, a carrot, to make the donkey move faster. So if you’re kids or your significant other are giving you a hard time, try feeding them carrots. It works for me! 

Chicken Chow Mein Noodles

I prepare Chicken Chow Mein with king mushrooms, tofu, broccoli, sugar snap peas, green beans, carrots and red bell peppers. The dish couldn't be simpler to make, and is definitely a family favorite. It's a great alternative to pasta, and it's an excellent way to make use of leftovers. I often combine the leftover chicken from my poulet roti with whatever vegetables we have on hand.

Chow Mein is one of the few dishes I can cook where it's very easy to make both vegetarian and meat versions simultaneously. I just set aside a portion of the dish before I add chicken to the rest.

Dried Apricot and Carrot Salad on Betel Leaves

Lulu's aunt, Sara, gave Daddy a betel leaf plant a few months ago. It has grown from a small vine into a prolific producer of fragrant leaves. Daddy loves chewing areca nuts wrapped in a betel leaf. It's very popular in India (paan parag) as well as Vietnam (trầu). In much of Southeast Asia, betel leaves are used to make a salad.

For the shredded carrot salad I made today, I decided to use the fresh betel leaves as a serving dish of sorts. To the shredded carrots, I added diced dried apricots and a fresh, thinly shredded kaffir lime leaf. The combination of the ingredients worked very well together. Betel leaves have a peppery taste and the kaffir lime has a nice citrus-y aroma. In keeping with the Asian theme, I made a peanut and tamarind dressing to brighten up the dish and tie all the flavors together.