Carrot Salad -- Yoğurtlu Havuç Salatası

Here's a delightful Turkish carrot salad that's easy to make. It's a good, hearty salad to serve this time of year and is one of my family's favorites.

At home, we simply take about 3-4 large carrots, wash well, and run across a a grater, slicing them fine into a bowl. Then make a salad dressing of olive oil and lemon juice and toss along with a bit of salt. That's it. Simple, yet wonderful.

Here's another version, a bit more complicated and involves slight cooking, but also very good.

Ingredients:

• 3 large carrots
• 1 cup yogurt (250 ml)
• 5 cloves garlic crushed with ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• a few mint leaves or 1 teaspoon dry mint
• a few black olives

Directions:
Scrape and wash carrots; cut into two. Cook in boiling water for 10 minutes. They should be barely cooked and not soft. Drain and cool. Grate carrots into a bowl.

Place yogurt in another bowl. Add garlic, vinegar, lemon juice, oil. Mix well. Add yogurt mixture to grated carrots and mix.

Garnish with whole mint leaves or crushed dry mint. If desired, arrange a few black olives on top.

Serves 5.

This recipe is from The Delights of Turkish Cooking.