Shaved Carrot + Avocado salad with tahini
I shared the following on Instagram, but I wanted to include it here because it succinctly captures what I’m feeling right now:
"I am absolutely heartbroken. I've been trying to process Tuesday night's results and I find myself left with feelings of anxiety, nausea, and utter sadness. This might sound odd, but I'm mourning as if someone died—when really what died was the spirit of the America I thought I knew. But instead of being fearful I want to cling tightly to hope, love, and kindness. This election has sent a dark message about the state of our country. It's a message that I will fight because no one should live in fear. I don't want to feel hopeless which means I need to focus on what I can do which is to love and embrace my neighbor fiercely ."
Things aren't going back to normal, at least not anytime soon, but we can help. Let us love one another, speak the truth, and urge others to do the same.
Okay now on to today’s recipe. There are so many inspiring people in the food world I enjoy learning from, and today I’m sharing a recipe from Julia Turshen’s beautiful new book, Small Victories. I've only had her book for a few days now and I’ve already made four of her incredible recipes (her turkey + ricotta meatballs are to die for btw)—needless to say I'm loving this book.
I found myself especially drawn to Julia’s recipe for a shaved carrot + avocado salad with tahini. Vibrant in texture, taste, and color, this salad has a wonderful blend of flavors that are both refreshing and striking. I even tossed in a segmented orange as well, which this already fantastic dish warmly welcomed.
Since creating The Broken Bread I've felt incredibly blessed to have a space where I get to share my love of food, photography, and community. I feel so fortunate that I get to create recipes and share images of all that I create, but often times the state of the world makes my pursuits seem trivial. While my instagram boasts images of cozy meals spent at home, for 1 in 5 children around the world such a life just simply isn’t a reality. Of course this makes me feel heartbroken and conflicted, but Julia encourages a way forward: “I firmly believe that if you have the privilege of eating however much you want whenever you want, you should spend some time ensuring that others have the same opportunity.”
These words truly resonated with me. Food is something to be celebrated, but most importantly to be shared, and that’s exactly what goes on behind the scenes at The Broken Bread: food is shared. This is essentially the main notion out of which my website emerged—I encounter such joy when I make and share food with others, and I wanted to extend this to an online space. But I know I can share it even further, not only with my friends but with those who need it most. So this year I’ll be donating to the No Kid Hungry campaign to help fight child hunger in America, and you can too by clicking here.
Shaved Carrot + Avocado Salad With Tahini
Recipe by Julia Turshen
1 tablespoon tahini, stirred
2 tablespoons boiling water
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
kosher salt
3/4 pounds carrots, shaved and thinly sliced on the diagonal into coins
1 ripe avocado, halved and pitted and sliced or cubed or however you like them
2 scallions, white and light green parts thinly sliced
2 tsp. toasted sesame seeds
1 tablespoon roughly chopped cilantro (optional)
1 segmented orange, (optional- my personal addition to the recipe)
Method
In a medium bowl whisk together the tahini, boiling water, olive oil and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt. Put the carrots in a large bowl, add half of the dressing and toss to combine.
Transfer the dressed carrots to a serving platter. Use a spoon to scoop of the avocado pieces from its shell into pieces and place them over carrots. Season the avocado pieces with salt to taste then drizzle the salad with the remaining dressing. Scatter the salad with the sesame seeds, scallions, cilantro(if using), and segmented orange over the salad and serve immediately.