Carrot salad with Pecans & Feta

This started out as Moroccan carrot salad with spicy lemon dressing - I found it at The Bitten Word, and they found it in Food & Wine magazine. I love carrot salads, and I imagined it would be a perfect side dish with the grilled pork we had planned. As I made it, I couldn't be bothered with any actual measuring - so my recipe is more of a sketch.

I had a bowl of pecans next to the stove... so I figured I might as well add them. Great idea, acually! They added a little bit of crunch, to what was already a very nicely balanced spicy-salty-sour-sweet salad. Oh, and I don't have harissa, so I used some sambal oelek - a chili pepper paste that I very often use in lieu of other spicy stuff.

I think black olives would go very nicely in this dish a well - perhaps instead of the raisins.

Carrot salad with Pecans & Feta
serves 2-3

4 medium carrots
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp sambal oelek (chili paste)
1 tbsp olive oil
salt
pepper
small handful of golden raisins
small handful of toasted pecans
1-2 tbsp finely chopped flat leaf parsley (I use very little, I'm not a big fan)
50 g feta cheese, crumbled

I started this a few hours before serving it, by finely slicing the carrots, and marinating them - at room temperature - in lemon juice, sambal oelek, olive oil and a little salt and black pepper.

Just before serving, I added raisins, pecans, parsley and feta cheese.