This is my Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon salad. The two main ingredients -- carrot and avocado -- might not seem compatible or connected, but your first bite will convince you otherwise. The carrots are roasted with cumin and paired with orange, both classic pairings for the vegetable. The citrus goes great with cilantro, and both are a fine match for avocado. Before you know it, you have this fresh, vibrant salad. I love the carrots roasted to the same creamy softness of avocado. The contrast comes not from the texture but from the fact that one's warm from the oven and the other's cool from the fridge.
Ingredients
Even more so than corn on the cob swabbed with butter, when summer comes, I look forward to sweet, nubby corn salads loaded with vegetables and a zesty dressing.
You have got to make this salad. Everyone that has tried it at my table, leaves with a recipe for making it at home and then repeats it incessantly. That’s how good it is. It will completely change the way you think about salads. Green, red, ivory and yellow. Smooth, juicy, firm and crunchy. Chunky all over and each chunk with a different flavor and texture that makes you want to keep on eating eat although you may be so full.
From Sheryl Crow: I love it when this is on the menu because it appeases any craving I might have for chocolate. And you would never have guessed that Chuck used avocado to thicken the mousse and that it would make it so delicious. Avocados are mild and sweet enough to blend seamlessly with the chocolate. This is super-healthful: no eggs, no cream, no white sugar in this mousse, and yet it's absolutely glorious.
Over the many years that I've cooked with shiso I've discovered it's the perfect counterpoint to fresh crabmeat.