Karl’s Lightly Pickled Carrots Salad with Spinach

I needed a salad for Christmas Eve dinner. Jan really loves carrot salad, but I wanted at least some green veg in the meal, so I added some baby spinach. I have made this salad before as a spinach salad, garnished with carrots. Here I reverse the proportions, a carrot salad garnished with some spinach.

Karl’s Lightly Pickled Carrots Salad with Spinach

Karl’s Lightly Pickled Carrots Salad with Spinach

Ingredients

Dressing

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbs. Champaign vinegar
1 clove garlic, cracked
1 tsp. basil, dried
½ tsp. tarragon, dried
¼ tsp. black pepper
¼ tsp. Karl’s Orange Infused Sugar
pinch Kosher salt
pinch celery seed
pinch onion powder

3 large heirloom carrots, grated (orange, purple & yellow)
¼ cup red radishes, grated
¼ cup green onion, finely sliced

2 oz. baby spinach (about two loose cups)

Directions

1. Six hours before serving, mix the dressing ingredients in a small jar. Shake them up and let them meld for at least 15 minutes.

2. Mix the grated carrots, radishes, and onion in a medium bowl. Pour the dressing over them and toss to coat.

Tip: Do not forget to discard the clove of garlic, unless you really, really like the taste of raw garlic. (I forgot this time and that bite was really exciting!)

3. Toss the carrot mix every 30 minutes, to redistribute the dressing, for at least one hour.

4. Just before serving, put the spinach in a bowl and pour on most of the carrot mix.

Tip: Reserve about a ½ cup of the carrot mix to garnish the salad.

5. Toss the salad to distribute the carrots and dressing, garnish with the remaining carrots and serve.