I don’t know about you, but these extra hours at the end of the night make me feel like I took off from work a few hours early to sip lemonade in my backyard. I have so much time! Well… kind of. I know how this works. Just go ahead and let me have my delusions.
Another delusion? It’s spring. Um… almost, guys. Not quite. Maybe where you are? We had several days of rain this month- awesome for the drought and my meyer lemon tree, less awesome for my weekend adventures to the farmer’s market. Which is how I ended up with an actual 2 cubic feet of carrots in my refrigerator. (Costco to the rescue!) Even though I’ve never spiralized before, OXO was kind enough to ship over one of their new Spiralizers for me to check out and I was VERY SURE I NEEDED TO USE THEM ON CARROTS. Enter: roasted carrot salad. Now all my carrots are gone.
A couple things about spiralizers:
- THEY ARE SO AWESOME.
- THEY MAKE THINGS CURLY! And NOODLY!
- This OXO one is super easy to use, even for a newbie like me.
Carrots aren’t necessarily the easiest item to start with since they’re not soft and usually under one inch in diameter (one of the tips I ignored when I decided that I had CARROTS and I needed to eat them). But even with the constraints, it was an actual breeze.
The thinner carrots created pretty half moons, but don’t be fooled by that- the texture for the salad is still absolutely perfect.
And just to show that I can, check out what it does to this lovely zucchini:
It was so pretty, I decided to toss it into the carrot salad too.
(These were the carrots I used. USE FATTER CARROTS. That’s a free tip right there- the skinny carrots are punks who hate being spiralized.)
- 5 to 6 large carrots, spiralized
- 1 zucchini, spiralized
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons feta cheese, crumbled
- 10 to 12 walnuts
- Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
- Add spiralized carrots, spiralized zucchini, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar into a bowl. Toss to coat. Sprinkle in salt and pepper and toss again.
- Spread out carrots on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Roast for 7 to 8 minutes.
- While the carrots are roasting, toast the walnuts in a frying pan.
- Remove the carrots from the even- they should still have a slight crunch to them.
- Transfer carrots to a serving bowl, top with crumbled feta and walnuts.
Now it’s time to dig a fork into that serving bowl and… eat the whole darn thing. This is probably one of those recipes where people will say it serves four, but I’m going to be real. It serves ONE (Me), maaaaybe two. If you’re nice.
Oh yum perfect summer salad, yah i am in summer mode already. Mostly because im in Southern Cali, land of one season.
This salad is so gorgeous I can’t even handle it. I want to date this salad. Also – you left town just in time for ALL OF THE HEAT. Let’s market when you get back! <3
curly + noodle food for life.
This salad is surely going to be a fest to my palate. Adding roasted foods to salads can further enrich its flavors and aroma. Can’t wait to try this one.