Beet & Carrot Salad
Honestly, this delicious Beet and Carrot Salad is one of my two favorite salads in the world right now! The ruby beets give a beautiful color to the salad and the tangy, citrusy dressing makes this cold salad so refreshing! Plus, it is crazy good for you in many ways including for your gut! I ask that you give this a try and I think you will be very surprised at how much you love it.
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Truly Delicious Beet & Carrot Salad
You are one of two people when you see the headline for this recipe. You might be the one who is health conscious so you try anything that you know is a powerhouse for your body. You may even like beets as I do! Or two, you are the type that doesn’t give this the time of day because you think it can’t taste good and you won’t even give it a chance. Don’t be that way. Give it a chance. Please…for me? There now, keep reading.
This is a raw salad. The Beets and Carrots keep a slight crunch, but not too much. Both of them are kind of the same texture when shredded so it is all pretty uniform. The dressing is a citrus, balsamic, and mustard base and is deliciously sweet and tangy! I like to toss the salad in the dressing and let it rest in the fridge for a while to get cold and let the flavors blend. To me, it is almost more of a fruity salad than a vegetable salad. I hope that helps you beet-haters to keep going with me on this.
Gut Healing Superfood!
So my husband was in a car accident some time ago with multiple surgeries and many pills to take for a long time after. All of those meds really wreaked havoc on his gut. A friend of ours informed us about a Ray Peat diet that helps to heal the gut and we were desperate, so we jumped on board. The diet was odd and I was highly skeptical, but it worked and I lost weight too! It was good to do for a few months to heal, and my husband was good as new. Even I felt better in my gut and I didn’t even know I needed to restore it.
On this diet, we learned how raw carrots heal the gut and that you can make an apple cider vinegar salad to consume them. From here, I added my love of beets and tried to find a salad with both of them. Beets, of course, are extremely nutritious as well and I try to include them into our diets whenever I can find good beets at the store. If you would like another amazing beet recipe, try my Easy Beets with Balsamic-Citrus Glaze!
If you have a leaky gut, have felt bloated, or need to recover maybe after a stomach bug or something, then give this salad a try. We love the taste but also know that we are fueling our bodies by eating it. I hope you really notice the good changes you feel like we do when we eat it!
Oh, The Places You Will Go! (Or Stay at Home)
This Beet and Carrot Salad is a winner for you for any potluck or picnic! It travels well and would be great for an outdoor get-together. It makes a decent portion, considering it is usually a side dish. People may only take a scoop of it or so. But if you love it, you’ll eat a large portion! It is quick and easy to make, so it is great for when you need to pull a recipe out of your pocket quickly.
I enjoy it for my lunch. I’ll make it as a side for dinner and then eat off of it for the next 2-3 days. I loved it during the summer when it was so hot that I didn’t want a heavy lunch. A bowl of this salad and a bowl of cottage cheese was my go-to many times!
How to Make Beet and Carrot Salad
It is the easiest salad. First, you want to use good veggies. I like organic when I can find them. Look for firm carrots, and beets with fresh-looking greens attached. I make this to different proportions probably each time I make it based on how big the beets are and whatnot. Use roughly 5/6 carrots and at least one tennis-ball-sized beet if you are still tricking yourself into hating beets. If you love beets as we do, use three tennis-ball-sized beets! The sizes of the veggies don’t really matter to us, we don’t mind how much of either carrots or beets there are or how much salad is made. We love it and will eat it all anyways!
Wash and skin them with a vegetable peeler. Make sure to get all the beet skin off because it can be tough. Did I mention that you should wear gloves? Don’t make this unless you have gloves, or like the idea of purple hands. Then shred them on a box grater or in a food processor if you have a shredder attachment. Add them to a large bowl and toss them in the prepared dressing and there you have it! I suggest chilling it before eating it, however.
Make It Your Own!
The beets and carrots are perfect on their own and how we usually eat this dish, but you can get creative! For this post, I had apples on hand and they make a great addition! Here are some things you might think of adding to the beet and carrot salad:
- Apples: this salad really is fruity and refreshing with the orange juice in the dressing, so fresh fruit like apples make sense in this. Maybe try pears or maybe a few mandarin oranges?
- Raisins/Craisins: perhaps you love these chewy little fruit morsels in your salads? Toss some in this beet and carrot salad! I need to try this actually…
- Nuts and Seeds: slivered almonds or pepitas would add a nice crunch to this salad for sure! Possibly sweet cinnamon roasted pecans on top when served would be good…
- Cheese: feta or goat cheese would taste great in this! Just know that the cheese will also turn purple/red from the beets!
Enjoy!
Beet lovers, I know you will enjoy this and make it often! Beet-haters, I am proud of you for making it this far in the post. You get an “A” for effort, but your body will be a winner if you eat this nutritious salad! Just do it, quit whining. You can have a cookie if you eat some of this.
Let me know how you liked it and maybe what you added to make it your own!
Beet & Carrot Salad
Ingredients
- 5-6 Carrots skinned and shredded
- 1-3 Beets skinned and shredded
- 1 Apple (optional) peeled and shredded. Or try mandarin oranges, nuts, cheese, etc.
- 1/4 Cup Orange juice
- 2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
- 1 Tbsp Honey can also use Maple Syrup or Agave
- 1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 3 Tbsp Olive Oil can substitute with another favorite oil of your choice that is good for salad dressings
- 2 tsp Stone-ground Mustard Dijon would be fine also
- 1 pinch Salt or to taste
Instructions
- Mix Orange Juice, Apple Cider Vinegar, Balsamic Vinegar, Honey, Oil, Salt, and Mustard either with a whisk until well incorporated, or shake in a jar or container until thoroughly combined. Set Aside.
- Skin and shred beets and carrots (and apple, if using).
- In a large bowl, combine everything together and toss well.
- Chill before serving. Enjoy!
