purple carrot salad and finding a new painting

Our twins will not be home for Christmas.

I’ve been sitting here for half an hour staring at my opening sentence. Seeing it written is just as breathtaking [ ie. I’m having trouble breathing normally] as hearing it. This isn’t my first Christmas without them. For a few years when they were little, they split Christmas between us and their birth father but mostly they were home.

Naively, I pictured my life growing into a Norman Rockwell painting. I would be the adoring  grandmother lovingly placing the perfectly roasted holiday turkey in the middle of the dining room table while her large ever-growing family sat in happy anticipation.

The anguish the girls would have experienced at the thought of telling me they were not going to be home this Christmas would have been gut wrenching. I’m not exaggerating. My daughters know well my romantic vision of our family during the holidays. They love their place in that picture as much as I do. Sadly, the magic of Christmas doesn’t have the power to suspend their new commitments during the holidays. Their lives have changed and I need to find a new painting…

Back to cooking – I’ve mentioned many times how I gravitate to simple, clean food. I love it when a couple of perfect ingredients tossed together produce something special. This salad did just that. The sweetness of the purple carrots married perfectly with the fruity pepper of the extra virgin olive oil. Topping it with great sea salt flakes knocks it out of the park!

Purple Carrot Salad

1 purple carrot per person

Best quality extra virgin olive oil  *the bottle you have saved for a special occasion

sea salt flakes  *available in gourmet shops

Use a vegetable peeler to make strips of the carrots.

Place carrots in ice water as you work. The strips will become crunchy and curly.

When you are ready to serve, drain the carrot strips and place them on a serving platter.

Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle liberally with the salt flakes.

Thanks for reading.