Moroccan carrot salad

I was asked to bring a carrrot salad to a barbecue the Boyfriend and I were invited to. As I'm not a big fan of the grated carrot-lemon- juice-sugar-and-yoghurt variety that is usually served as carrot salad in the part of the world I live, I went looking for another kind of carrot salad. I needed something tasty, different from the usual salad bar mush and easy to make in larger quantities. I thought that making something which involved cooking the carrots would do the trick (no grating, only chopping) and after a little culinary research I decided on a moroccan carrot salad.

Four four to six people you need:
- 1 kg carrots
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- juice of 1 large lemon
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 0.5 teaspoon chili flakes
- 2 teaspoons icing sugar
- 1 garlic clove
- 2 bunches of flat leafed parsley
- 1 sprig of mint (optional)
- salt and freshly grounded pepper

- peel the carrots, chop off the ends and cut them diagonally into 5mm thick slices
- heat one teaspoon of olive oil in a large pan, add the carrots to the pan, stirring so they get evenly coated in olive oil, then cover the pan, lower the heat and cook the carrots for about twenty minutes until they are soft
- in the meantime, finely chop the parsley and the mint (if using), juice the lemon and peel the garlic
- when the carrots are done, transfer them into a serving bowl, add all the spices, the sugar, lemon juice and remaining oil, pressed garlic and the herbs and stir well
- season with salt and freshly ground pepper

The carrots can be eaten warm or cold. Most recipes use coriander instead of parsley but I'm not keen on the taste of fresh coriander. I thought that the carrots made for a lovely accompaniment to the grilled meat. We didn't have any lamb but I'm sure that that would be a match made in kitchen heaven.