This carrot salad with toasted coconut and cashew was inspired by a recipe on the back of a carrot recipe! Needless to say the recipe got the “Lou Once-over” and this was the result. Yum, nailed it. My buddy Emma has road-tested it for me and declared it delicious.
I made this recipe in Wellington, on trip to Ohariu Valley to visit my hubby’s family. We had a good old-fashioned belated Christmas get-together and it was so much fun. This zingy carrot salad was served alongside Aunty Janet’s now famous roast turkey: Quite possibly the best turkey I’ve ever had (I want to say it was super moist, but so many people seem to have an allergic reaction to that ‘m’ word.. So I’ll put the word in brackets). Back to the salad, this would be a sensational addition to any BBQ. You could serve it hot – we had ours cold and it was perfection.
As you know, I like recipes that can be easily modified with different ingredients. This recipe is no exception. I reckon replacing the carrot with orange kumara would be delicious. Emma and I both agree that chopped dates or cranberries would also be tip-top.
Speaking of carrot salad recipes, have you tried this recipe for crunchy carrot, date and almond salad? This is another goodie!
The Recipe
Zingy Carrot Salad with Toasted Coconut and Cashew
Ingredients
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
- 6 medium to large sized carrots - cut into chunky sticks
- 1/4 cup diced cashews
- 1/4 cup coconut flakes - toasted (dry fry them in a frying pan until lightly browned)
- Large handful of chopped fresh coriander (mint would also be great and will appease the coriander haters).
Zingy Dressing
- 2 teaspoons finely grated ginger
- 2 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons coconut sugar or brown sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons lemon juice (to taste)
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Make the zingy dressing by mixing all the ingredients in a bowl (or put them in a jar and shake it).
- Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan and saute the onion until lightly coloured. Remove onion from the pan and set aside.
- Add a little more oil to the pan and add half of the carrots and cook for 2-3 minutes until lightly brown. Remove from heat and repeat with the other half of the carrots (chances are your pan will be too small).
- When the second batch of carrots is done, add the other carrots (cooked) back to the pan, and the onions and pour over the zingy sauce and cook for 1 minute (but no longer otherwise the carrots will go mushy). You essentially want the sauce to absorb into some of the carrot for extra flavour.
- Plate up: Place carrots and onions on a platter. Once cool, sprinkle over toasted coconut, cashew and coriander.
