Here’s an easy, simple carrot salad that will be a great side dish. I love packing this for a summer picnic. Sweet, tangy, crisp yumminess! I like shaving the carrots into ribbons or strips using a vegetable peeler. If you wish, you could grate or julienne them.

Tips

- For extra crisp carrots, place the shaved carrots in a bowl of water with ice cubes.  Pat dry before dressing
- When you measure the ingredients for the vinaigrette, measure out the olive oil first. Then use the same measuring cup or spoon to measure the honey. They honey will slip out of the olive oil coated measuring spoon easily
- The vinaigrette will keep for a few weeks in the fridge, so its a great make ahead item!
- I used white wine vinegar for the salad dressing. Apple cider vinegar or balsamic vinegar will also work well. For a citrus touch, try adding lemon or orange juice and zest 

I love serving salad dressing in this mini creamer jug I brought back from my trip to Thailand.

Shaved Carrot Salad with Pecans and Honey Vinaigrette Recipe

serves about 2

3 medium carrots
3 tablespoons chopped pecans
Honey vinaigrette, recipe below

Peel the carrots. Using a vegetable peeler, shave the carrots into long ribbons (see photos above). Lightly toast pecans in a skillet. Sprinkle pecans over shaved carrots. Serve chilled, with honey vinaigrette (recipe below).

Honey Vinaigrette Recipe
Whisk together 2 tablespoons each of olive oil, honey, and white wine vinegar. Add salt to taste.

Kumquats are gorgeous little citrus fruits with a sweet rind and sour flesh. Think of them as bright flavored, miniature oranges. You can eat kumquats whole, rind and all. They add a lovely, fresh, sweet-sour pop to this baby spinach salad. If you dont like or dont have kumquats, just use orange segments (or similar citrus fruit) instead.

Staying with the citrus theme, I used an orange and sesame dressing for this salad. Using frozen orange juice concentrate is the secret here. The concentrate gives the dressing great flavor without watering it down (like regular orange juice would).

Fresh Baby Spinach and Kumquat Salad with Orange Sesame Dressing Recipe

serves 2

for salad
4 cups fresh baby spinach leaves, loosely packed
6-8  kumquats
6 small red onion rings
2-3 tablespoons toasted pecans (I didnt use pecans)

for dressing
4 tablespoons frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 1/2 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
salt and pepper

Wash and pat dry the spinach leaves. Wash and cut each kumquat into 3 or 4 rounds. Cut the red onion into thin rings. Assemble all ingredients for the salad in a serving dish.

Whisk together all ingredients for the dressing. Serve with spinach salad.