Shaved Carrot Salad with Roasted Chili Pepper Dressing

This shaved carrot salad with roasted chili pepper dressing is a crunchy salad with a bit of spice.

I could literally feel the seasonal depression woes leaving my body with every minute past 6pm that it was light out yesterday. Walking on the bike trail without a jacket, cutting back hydrangea & rose bushes and seeing actual buds on the branches, and eating my first cherry dipped vanilla cone of the season might also have helped.

I’m choosing to ignore the 10 day forecast which is apparently just teasing us northeasterners with mid-50 degree temps before plunging back into arcticness later this week and making all things spring in my kitchen.

Including this salad.

I don’t really know if carrots are even a spring thing actually. But in my 10 year old mind they make me think of bunnies and therefore the Easter bunny and that’s how we get to spring with them.

I got blindsided with another cold (that’d be 2 head colds in the span of 13 days in case you’re counting) at the end of last week and it was no joke. By Friday morning I was saying screw you to the elderberry, tea & honey, raw garlic adventures and dragging my sick butt to the urgent care down the road in about 10 inches of unplowed snow. I have a lot to be thankful for in life but Friday morning it was an SUV, antibiotics and reasonable health insurance.

So while the meds kicked in within 24 hours, Ulysses and I once again (for the 3rd out of 4 weeks now) got to spend our 2 days a week together sleeping in separate bedrooms and I was left with a head that felt like it was floating about 15 feet above my actual body unable to smell or taste a thing, which is the sole reason this salad has chili peppers in it. It might be the only good thing that came of this sickness.

Unable to taste pretty much anything unless I blow my nose after each bite (a slightly disgusting proposition while at the dinner table), I decided this salad needed serious spice to help the chances.

And it worked. Those little peppers are no joke. Minced up with ginger and coconut oil they were the perfect dressing addition for my stuffed head.

If you don’t like spice (or don’t have a head cold), proceed with caution. That is all.

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Shaved Carrot Salad with Roasted Chili Pepper Dressing

By: Gina Matsoukas

Servings: 2 servings

Prep: 10 minutes mins

Total: 10 minutes mins

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This shaved carrot salad with roasted chili pepper dressing is a crunchy salad with a bit of spice.

Ingredients 

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For the Carrot Salad

• ▢ 3 medium-large carrots shaved into peels with a vegetable peeler
• ▢ 1 scallion, chopped
• ▢ 2 tablespoons cashews, chopped

For the Dressing

• ▢ 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
• ▢ 1 tablespoon shallots, minced
• ▢ 2 roasted green chili peppers, minced, I roasted at 400 for about 5 minutes
• ▢ 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• ▢ 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• ▢ 1/2 tablespoon honey

Instructions 

• Combine the carrots, scallions and cashews in a large bowl.
• Whisk together the dressing ingredients and pour over the carrot mixture.
• Toss well to fully coat the carrot peels and serve.

Notes

If not serving immediately, the dressing may solidify from the coconut oil. If this happens, just warm the salad in the microwave for about 30 seconds to melt the coconut oil and re-toss. I actually prefer the salad this way as it's just a bit warmed and the carrots get slightly "cooked".

Nutrition

Serving: 1SERVINGCalories: 253kcalCarbohydrates: 18gProtein: 3gFat: 21gSaturated Fat: 13gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gSodium: 68mgPotassium: 419mgFiber: 3gSugar: 10gVitamin A: 15402IUVitamin C: 10mgCalcium: 42mgIron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Salads

Cuisine: Thai

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Gina Matsoukas

Founder and Writer at Running to the Kitchen | About

Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.