This Raw Carrot Salad with Parsnips is sweet, crunchy and refreshing. It comes together quickly and pairs perfectly with pulled pork and avocado for easy, weeknight paleo tacos.
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I made this raw carrot salad the day after the third US presidential debate, which I did not watch, but did read live blog coverage of. I had been conceptualizing it for a few weeks, as I’d been dying to do something with these gorgeous tricolor carrots I kept seeing at the market.
With a general sense of direction, but lacking any specific recipe per se, I bit the bullet, headed to the kitchen, and came up with this:
Isn’t she pretty?!?
Once Cameron had finished processing the images, I looked through the proofs and started laughing so hard I nearly choked. “Honey, it’s a…a….a bad h’ombre…carrot…salad!” Cue more laughter from the husband and quizzical stares from the child. This is likely to be the first and last time I get somewhat political on this blog, so fear not. But c’mon friends, just look at this salad… It’s orange. It’s slick. It’s paired with freakin’ tex-mex pulled pork (recipe coming soon!). I just couldn’t help myself when I saw the connection. I had to.
Raw Carrot Salad Recipe Notes
This raw carrot salad is as easy as they come, ready in 20 minutes! I opted to shave the carrots and parsnips, but it would be just as delicious with grated or julienned vegetables. It can stand a good long marinade in the fridge, so it’s perfect for leftovers or lunch prep.
In addition to the carrots, I threw in a few parsnips on a whim. I was a little apprehensive as I hadn’t previously consumed raw parsnips, but I have to say – they’re nutty and ever-so-slightly spicy, and gently offset the sweetness from the carrots. Feel free to keep ’em or lose ’em, but I highly recommend keeping them.
Being the bad(ass) hombres that we are, Cameron and I ate this raw carrot salad for dinner with pulled pork lettuce cup “tacos” and a little avocado. It. was. amazing.
Did you make this Raw Carrot Salad? I’d love to know how it turned out! Leave a comment and a rating below.
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Recipe
Raw Carrot Salad with Parsnips
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- Vegetable Peeler
Ingredients
- 1 lb. organic carrots, multi-colored to achieve the ombre effect
- 3 medium organic parsnips
- fresh parsley
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, see note
- 1.5 tbsp champagne vinegar
- 1 tbsp whole grain mustard
- 1 garlic clove, smashed
- flaky malden sea salt, to taste
- fresh cracked pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Rinse/scrub the carrots and parsnips. Using a vegetable peeler, shave the outer skin from each parsnip and carrot and reserve for another purpose (they are great to add to vegetable stock).
- Continue to shave each parsnip and carrot until you reach the core. Arrange the peeled vegetable strips in a shallow platter. To achieve the ombre effect, I started with the parsnips, then yellow carrots, then orange carrots, finishing with purple carrots.
- Prepare the vinaigrette. Vigorously whisk the olive oil, vinegar, mustard and smashed garlic.
- Pour the vinaigrette over the shaved vegetables. Top with fresh chopped parsley, salt and pepper. Gently toss to serve.
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