Shredded carrot salad with Italian chicken tenderloin 人参のサラダ、鶏の笹身イタリアンソテー

This post is not for the chicken tenders but for the carrot salad which was made by my wife. She made it in a rather large quantity so that we could eat it as a "side" with our lunches during the week at work. She is known to have made shredded carrot salad in the past. It was one of the dishes she served when she first invited me for dinner to her apartment ions ago. Back then she used a blender with a bit of water to shred carrots but now she uses a food processor. As a accompaniment for her carrot salad, I made Italian style chicken tenderloin.

Chicken tenderloin: I used three tenderloins for two small servings. I just seasoned them with salt, pepper, dried basel and oregano. I then dredged in yellow corn meal and fried them in olive oil.

I have to ask my wife to fill in for this quite nice shredded carrot salad.

Again this is a recipe based on the one for spiced carrot salad found in the "500 appetizers" cookbook. As usual we could not resist making variations. I shredded a large bag of carrots in the food processor. (Cook the carrots in batches in the micro wave for 30 seconds, stir and cook about another 30 seconds until the carrots get a bit tender but still have crunch).  Then I made a dressing of: 1/2 tsp. ground ginger, 1 tsp. cumin, 1/2 tsp ground coriander, 1/2 tsp paprika, 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper, finely chopped candied ginger to taste, 4 tsp. sushi vinegar, 3 Tbs. olive oil, 2 tsp. chopped mint. I also added about 1 cup of raisins and the juice from 2 limes. I mixed all the spices together with the liquid ingredients and poured the dressing over the carrots and raisins. I let it sit for several hours for the flavors to marry (as a matter-of-fact the salad gets better every day). 

The sweetness of the carrots combined with the raisins and the dressing make a very sweet/savory combination. Over time the carrots exude juice which blends with the dressing. It is a great way to eat your veggies.