Shaved Carrot Salad with Poppy Seeds and Parsley (Zanahorias Dulces)

This colorful, eye-catching salad is our version of one that we sampled in Buenos Aires at a tapas stall that reflects Spain’s lingering influence in Argentina. The flavors are salty, sweet and tangy, with nutty notes from toasted poppy seeds and grassiness from fresh parsley. Chef Diego Fernandez of De Lucía Tapas at the Mercado San Telmo showed us how the dressing ingredients are heated briefly in a skillet, then the carrot shavings added and cooked just until barely tender. We further simplified by microwaving the carrots—they cooked faster and more evenly. A sharp Y-style vegetable peeler works well for shaving the carrots into ribbons, but you also can use a mandoline. Either way, choose large, thick carrots—not the slender variety sold in bunches—because they're easier to shave. And stop shaving once you reach the fibrous cores. Carrots vary in sweetness, so you may need to add a little extra sugar, lemon juice and/or salt at the end to find just the right flavor balance.