Raw Carrot and Avocado Salad with Lemon, Garlic and Sunflower Seed Dressing

The beginning of November means it's time for another Recipe Swap. A group of intrepid food bloggers gather monthly (electronically) to recreate a recipe, chosen from a quaint recipe book, in our own versions.

Carrot pie, our chosen recipe, is a dish of carrot quiche. The carrot is so simple and inexpensive, I was more than excited to work with this bunny-inspired ingredient so I ordered a few pounds of carrots from my local farmer.

With the cold weather seeping into the midwest, my mind is turning to warm and hearty dishes. I set to work on a pasta carrot sauce, which turned out great. Then I used that sauce in a vegetarian lasagna. The photos are done, the recipe is written. All that was left to do was write up the post.

Extra carrots remained in my fridge though, and after all the heavy dishes I had just created I longed for lighter, summer fare. Plus I had a pile of shaved carrots leftover from the lasagna. So I tossed them into nutty, garlicky dressing and didn't look back.

I'm not entirely ready for heavy fall food and that's okay because we have a number of winter months ahead of us. This incredibly simple salad fills me up without weighing me down. It's another fat and happy recipe swap success!



Fat and Happy Food Blog Tips and Techniques:  This is a pretty salad. Try to use multicolored carrots for added color depth.

Raw Carrot and Avocado Salad 
with 
Lemon, Garlic and Sunflower Seed Dressing

2 carrots

1/2 avocado

1 Tbls lemon juice, fresh squeezed

2 Tbls olive oil

2 Tbls sprouted or regular sunflower seeds

1 small garlic clove, minced

3 Tbls parsley

Clean the carrots. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the carrots into long shavings. Set aside in a bowl.

In a mortar and pestle, add the lemon juice, olive oil, sunflower seeds, garlic and parsley. Smash all the ingredients together until well combined. You can also use an immersion blender in a tall glass to combine. It's such a small amount of dressing that using a blender doesn't work well.

Slice the avocado and lay on a platter. Drizzle one spoonful over the avocado, toss the dressing with the carrot shavings and add to the platter. Serve at room temperature.

Please take a moment to look at my fellow swappers carrot pie re-creations below.