Roasted Carrot & Goat’s Cheese Salad (Vegan Option)
Carrots are a gem, really. They are available year round, easy to use in any number of recipes, and cheap as chips (or even skinny carrot fries). They are naturally sweet and easy to get hold of. They are one of the cheaper vegetables to buy organically and one of the vegetables few children object to. It’s no wonder they are a staple in British households.
But carrots can also get boring quickly when you make them the same way over and over. Served with a roast, grated into a cake mix, blitzed into a soup.
Almost a year ago, we decided to make some changes in our food budget to accommodate a weekly organic fruit & vegetable box. Although we’ve switched provider several times over that time, we have been able to make it work with our budget the whole time, and I’m so so glad we have. The taste is far superior to blander supermarket varieties, a fair bit comes from local farms, and you know you are getting high-quality healthy produce.
You can usually change around which box you get or what is in the box depending on the provider, but most of the time, you will end up with carrots (along with potatoes and onions) in your box every week. Every week, as I look up what is being delivered and sit down to plan out the week’s meals, I stumble over the carrots. My kids adore them, so if I cannot think what else to do with them, they make excellent snacks or extra vegetable additions to lunch boxes or lunches. But I crave variety, and like to try something new with them.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think I can ever grow bored of Justine Pattison’s low sugar spiced carrot cake (I have changed the ingredients a bit over time to make my own version I hope to share with you sometime soon) or my carrot, miso & ginger soup. But I love discovering a new way to cook this nutrient-rich vegetable and bring out their sweetness and taste.
This is my latest favourite way. This salad is sweet, filling, and just as beautiful served as a light meal as a side dish. It’s beautifully bulked out and made more satisfying with a small portion of cooked wholegrains like quinoa, buckwheat or millet, or pared down and made vegan by leaving out the cheese or replacing with some cooked lentils.
And it is full of goodness. Did you know carrots are rich in beta-carotene, which converts to vitamin A in the body? This vegetable boasts some pretty amazing health benefits: cancer-fighting, skin-protecting, age-defying and so much more.
But remember – vitamin A is one of the vitamins (A, D, E and K) that can only be absorbed by the body when consumed with fat. So make sure you add some healthy fats like nuts & seeds, avocado, olive oil (or avocado oil, coconut oil or grass-fed butter), unsweetened dairy or dairy-free products (milk, cheese, etc), grass-fed (or better yet, organic) meat or wild fish.
So enjoy the natural sweetness, amazing health benefits and general yumminess of this salad. Even kids will chomp their way happily through this, so unlike what they usually think of as “salads”.
A delicious snack, light meal or side, this carrot salad is a kid-friendly, healthy and naturally sweet lunch.
- 12 carrots, chopped into large sticks
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 log (about 100g) goat's cheese (chevre/log style), crumbled (for vegan, use a handful of cooked Puy lentils instead)
- 4 tbsp pumpkin seeds
- 4 handfuls watercress
- 4 tbsp fresh parsley, roughly chopped
- 1 tsp Dijon or wholegrain mustard
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 8 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
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Preheat the oven to 425F/220C/gas 7. Put the chopped carrots into a roasting dish and drizzle with olive oil. Season and roast in the preheated oven for 45 mins, or until the carrots are soft and caramelised. Allow to cool slightly.
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Make the dressing by adding the ingredients to a jar with a little seasoning, then shake with the lid on until combined.
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To serve, divide the roasted carrots between 4 plates (or add to a salad bowl) and top with the other ingredients. Pour the dressing over and serve warm.
