New Blog, sort of and carrot salad

I haven't posted in a while but that doesn't mean I haven't been cooking or thinking constantly about food. In fact, I'm always obsessing over my meals and I'm usually thinking about my next meal. Last night I did a little memory test to see how far back I could remember every meal I had without skipping any days. I'm not sure how good 10 days is but that's the record so far. I never skip a meal so that's 30 meals.

The main reason I stopped posting is because I didn't want to write only about cooking and food, but I also wanted to write about different topics. To be honest though, I'm always thinking about food. I was talking to a friend yesterday who reminded me that I have not posted anything in a long time and well...why beat around the bush, I'll just say it, I wasn't really motivated. I mean who really reads this blog anyway, but at the same time people aren't going to read a blog that isn't updated. I guess it's the classic catch 22. Sort of? uhh anyway I am going to continue on with writing mostly about food but occasionally, if I feel inclined, I will post on other topics. In a way, I'm sort of saying that I'm redefining my blog.

Ok so on to it! I'm backed up on sharing some really cool recipes so I'll slowly start posting those. My friend has a garden at her house and we're not talking about a few herbs and tomatoes but about 15 different veggies and fruit trees. I'm not sure how seriously she was taking Michelle Obama's suggestion of growing your own garden but it's a pretty awesome garden. She was making two interesting variety of carrots: Tonda di Parigi and Scarlet Nantes. One of them was short and fat and the other one was short and skinny. She came over to drop off some of them and I wanted to make a dish that highlighted their interesting flavor and shape. Something that was visually appealing but simple enough to taste the carrot without it getting lost in a lot of other ingredients.

I decided on making a raw carrot salad by slicing the carrots in a way that you could still see their original shape. Here's what I came up with:

Tonda di Parigi Carrot Salad in Peach vinaigrette

3 Tonda di Parigi carrots, washed and sliced thin with a mandolin. (Don't peal them because that's where a lot of the vitamins are)
2 tablespoons of their leaves finely chopped
1 tablespoon of peach balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon of sugar
pinch of salt
freshly ground black pepper

Mix the dressing first and add the carrots into a bowl and marinate over night.



Tonda di Parigi and Scarlet Nantes:

* The Tonda di Parigi carrot is the petite round carrot to the right. They have a mild and sweet flavor. Although the name, Tonda di Parigi is Italian. It actually means, 'round from Paris'
* The Scarlet Nantes carrot is the carrot to the left. They are one of the most famous and classic heirloom carrots. They are medium, slender, orange-skinned carrots with the typical rich carrot flavor and a hint of red glow.