Moorish Salad

In Trinidad when something tastes good, we say that it is moorish because you want more of it.  Chef Jamie Oliver may have been thinking along the lines of a Middle Eastern influenced salad but I find the Trini meaning to be very applicable as well. 

Moorish Salad

(slight adaptation of Jamie Oliver's Moorish Crunch Salad)

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 1/2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted

4 apples, sliced thinly 

juice of  1 lime or  1/2 lemon

1 large carrot, matchstick slices

4 radishes, sliced thinly

1 handful fresh parsley and

or 1 handful fresh mint

1/4 cup raisins

salt ( to taste)

freshly ground black pepper

4 tablespoons tahini paste

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Use a large frying pan. Heat the sesame seeds in the frying pan on medium high heat. Shake the pan and turn the seeds with a spoon occasionally. Remove from the heat when the seeds darken and are fragrant. Set aside to cool. 

Quarter your apples, remove the cores and thinly slice. Put the apple slices to soak in a bowl of water with a squeeze of lime. I do this to keep the apples from turning brown quickly. Slice carrot into very thin sticks. Slice your radishes thinly. Rough chop the parsley and or the mint.

Drain the water from the apples and combine in a large bowl with the carrots, radishes, raisins, parsley and or the mint. Toss the salad with the sesame seeds. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper to taste. Serve with a spoonful of tahini paste at the side or on top.