French Carrot Salad

1-pound carrots, peeled and grated (5-6 medium carrots)

For the dressing:

1 teaspoon lemon zest, from 1 lemon

1/4 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed (1 large lemon)

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon kosher salt, (use less salt if all you have is table salt)

1/4 teaspoon black pepper, freshly cracked

1/4 cup olive oil, high quality

2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped

1. In a medium bowl, zest 1 large lemon with a microplane grater, until you have about 1 teaspoon zest.
2. Use a citrus reamer to juice the lemon into the same bowl. You need 1/4 cup lemon juice, so if you have small lemons, use 2 lemons.
3. Add 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard.
4. Add 1 tablespoon honey.
5. Add 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Use 1/2 teaspoon salt if you are using table salt.
6. Add 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste. Freshly cracked it best, if you have a pepper grinder!
7. Whisk everything together.
8. While whisking, slowly add 1/4 cup high quality olive oil. Make sure you whisk the whole time so that the dressing emulsifies!
9. Peel 1 pound of carrots. (Or don’t, and just scrub them well.)
10. Grate the carrots. Don’t chop off the leaf end of the carrot, that way you can use it as a handle when grating the carrots.
11. Chop 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, or your favorite herb. Add the grated carrots and parsley to the bowl with the vinaigrette. Toss it all together.
12. Serve right away!
13. Note: You can make this salad ahead of time exactly as written. If it’s for a special event, I would make it 24 hours ahead (48 hours max), as the carrots do get soggy from the dressing eventually.