Salads are not for me. I’ve never been a lettuce and tomato person. However, I’m always trying to find ways to consume more vegetables. This, for me, is a major task. Especially when it comes to RAW vegetables. Stir fry, saute, olive oil, sesame oil, I can work with. But raw salad? No thanks.

It’s always been a struggle given that I’m a picky eater and I KNOW I’m not the only one out there with this problem. I’ve met people who tell me they don’t like salad. But how many people out there make unconventional salads out of the random vegetables they do like? This has always been my style, so I decided to share the recipe for my own take on ‘salad’. I never initially planned on sharing this recipe, thinking it was likely one of those things you fix for yourself because it encompasses all of those wacky flavors that my individual taste buds crave. Until my mother asked for a bite and loved it. I was shocked, but thrilled to think I was doing something right operating off my own instincts.

I wanted to combine my favorite elements from other dishes I like to create one super light, flavorful dish with ingredients I love. Additionally, I’m one to simply pick all of the good toppings off of the salad and leave the base of greens behind. So why not make a salad out of only the great crunchy stuff?

So I present to you – my crunchy carrot salad. Carrots don’t offer the most impressive nutritional value, but they’re a great vehicle to enjoying meat-less proteins like the seeds and nuts I include here. I love them far more than lettuce, kale, spinach or arugula. Topped with what makes a good portion of the salad are seasoned, roasted and chopped almonds and sunflower kernals, sesame seeds and golden flax seeds. All of these offer loads of protein and other nutritional benefits. They’re also on the more affordable side of the nut and seed family.

Another practical side to this recipe that permits me to make it frequently? The ingredients last a long time in my fridge and are generally what I keep on hand anyways. All of it can be made ahead of time. Meal prep your base in tupperwares, keep portioned ziplocs of the topping on hand and a jar of dressing in the fridge.

I’m also typically not a fan of creamy dressings nor do I purchase many bottled dressings. However, I picked up a little habit while living in Spain that comes into play here… drizzling olive oil on EVERYTHING I eat. So I took that little habit a bit further with this and infused the oil with some basic household ingredients, being thyme, peppercorns and in true Spanish fashion… GARLIC. It keeps the salad overall light while still packing as much functional flavor in as humanly possible. I’ve played with variations of this recipe using sesame oil and no feta, shrimp and no flax seeds. But I wanted to keep this recipe in tune with my latest wave of Mediterranean inspiration.

Please give me a shout in the comments below and let me know what your thoughts are, fellow picky eaters! How do you get around you lack of love for vegetables? Would you try this? If you give this a shot, be sure to let me know how it goes!

Crunchy Carrot Salad with Garlic Pepper Dressing

Servings: 2

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 6 minutes

Ingredients:

For the base:

• 3-4 Large carrots, ribboned and chopped.
• 1 cup cup sprouts, optional
• 1/2 cup red onion, chopped smal

For the topping

• 1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
• 1 tbsp toasted golden flax seeds, toasted
• 2 tbsp sunflower kernals
• 1/3 cup raw almonds
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
• 3 tsp olive oil, separated

For the dressing

• 1/3 cup olive oil
•  2 3-inch sprigs fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp peppercorns, crushed
• 1 tbsp stone ground mustard

• 2 squeezes fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
• Optional: Crumbled bacon or chicken breast
• Optional: Red pepper flakes

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. First, combine smoked paprika, chili powder, salt and cracked pepper to make one homogeneous mixture.
• Begin by making the almonds. Toss in 2 tsp olive oil, fully coating the almonds. Add 3/4 of the spice mixture to coat the almonds. Arrange almonds in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Repeat the same process with sunflower kernals using remaining olive oil and seasoning mixture. Toss the sunflower kernals once while roasting and only roast for 8 minutes.
• To make the dressing, heat olive oil, garlic, peppercorns and thyme in a small sauce pan. Simmer for approximately 8 minutes or until garlic begins to brown. Monitor the heat closely, as the thyme will burn if the heat is up to high. Remove from heat and strain oil into a glass measuring cup. Discard garlic, thyme and peppercorns. Whisk in mustard.
• To assemble, toss salad base, half of feta and topping with half of the oil, squeeze of fresh lemon and red pepper flakes/extra proteins, if desired. Add remaining topping and dressing. Sprinkle with additional salt and pepper, to taste.
• Garnish with thyme and/or lemon wedge.