Carrot, Currant and Coconut Salad + a muffin recipe

I feel like I’m becoming a bit like those chefs you hear about, or those Italian mammas, who cook by feel. A wodge of that, a glug of that (as per Jamie Oliver – love him). Don’t get me wrong. I follow recipes strictly, until I know them well enough to ad lib. But this salad is a little different. It’s made with a little bit of this and a little bit of that, so bear with me…

We used to make it as a nice alternative to mixed salad at a campsite where I worked a few years back (okay, 20 years ago, half a lifetime in fact). There are no strict quantities, or at least I never wrote them down. But here I’ve written the approximations for your benefit, as we ate it with our Eggplant Lasagne the other day, and made muffins with the leftovers!

Carrot, Currant and Coconut Salad
This salad can morph into something incredibly complex, with accents of Thai cuisine, with the addition of some roasted cashews, chopped fresh coriander and a simple dressing of lime juice and olive oil… but be warned… it won’t then convert into muffins!

Ingredients
3-4 carrots, peeled and coarsely grated (approx 2 cups)
½ desiccated coconut
1/3 cup currants

Method
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and serve as a side to any meal.

Carrot, Currant and Coconut Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients
Wet Mix
2 large eggs
½ cup brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled
½ cup plain Greek yoghurt, full fat
1 cup grated carrot salad (see above)
¼ cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Dry
1 cups self-raising (rising) flour*
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Topping
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 190 degrees C/… degrees F. Grease muffins pans or line with muffin papers. Combine topping ingredients in a small bowl and mix together with fingertips. Set aside.

Sift or whisk together the flour, baking soda and cinnamon. Beat together the eggs, sugar, coconut oil and yoghurt. Add the carrot salad and walnuts. Fold in the previously combined dry mix. Stir until flour is just combined, do not beat.

Place by spoonfuls into muffin pans, sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon and bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown and firm to touch.

*Make your own self-raising (rising) flour by using 1 cup plain flour + 2 teaspoons baking powder.