Serves 4 to 6
Using all parts of the vegetable, like using all parts of the animal, is very trendy right now, and I respect any movement that rejects throwing away food. I use the tops from the carrots as the greens in this salad, but truth be told, carrot tops don’t have a lot of flavor, so I tangle them together with parsley. This way I can feel good about the fact that I am not wasting the carrot tops, and also about the fact that my salad has flavor.
Being the native Californian that I am, I thought I knew raisins, but then I took a trip to my local Middle Eastern market and discovered a whole wall of raisin varieties, including two sizes of currants, jumbo raisins as big as dried cherries, and green raisins—not to be confused with golden raisins. Now that I’ve tasted green raisins, I’m like a slave to them. I still like black raisins in desserts because of their color, but for salads, green raisins own me. If you find them, try them.
Lemon Yogurt Dressing (recipe follows)
1 bunch rainbow carrots, with tops
¾ cup millet, cooked and cooled to room temperature (see here; about 3 cups cooked millet)
¾ cup green or golden raisins
½ cup hulled roasted and salted sunflower seeds or pepitas
1 cup whole fresh parsley leaves
4 ounces feta cheese
Reserve ¼ cup of the Lemon Yogurt Dressing and pour the rest into a bowl big enough to toss the entire salad.
Cut the tops off the carrots. Tear the carrot tops into small tufts. Rinse the carrot tops and put them on paper towels to dry. Shave the carrots into long ribbons using a U-shaped vegetable peeler.
Add the carrot ribbons to the bowl with the dressing and toss, making sure to coat the carrots with the dressing; your hands are the best tool for this, but a rubber spatula will also work. Add the millet, raisins, sunflower seeds, parsley, and carrot tops and give it all a gentle toss to combine. Crumble the feta over the salad and toss again gently. Drizzle the reserved dressing over the top.
Makes about 1¼ cups
1 medium shallot, minced
⅓ cup fresh lemon juice (from about 1½ lemons)
2 tablespoons champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt (or sheep’s-milk yogurt)
Combine the shallot, lemon juice, vinegar, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside for 5 to 10 minutes to soften the shallot. Add the olive oil in a steady stream, whisking constantly. Put the yogurt in a separate bowl and gradually add the vinaigrette, whisking constantly. You add the thin liquids to the yogurt gradually to keep the dressing from breaking. The yogurt vinaigrette will keep, refrigerated in a covered container for up to 5 days.