Roasted Carrot and Avocado Salad

I love this salad!

Back in February I made this salad for Dusty as part of his 4-course Valentine's Day dinner and he was so impressed with this fantastic salad! Dusty loves it and I do too....it is just really good! Looking back I can't believe I made a 4-course dinner....what was I thinking?!?!? My kitchen is too tiny to have 4 different dishes going on at once! But Dusty sure did appreciate it, so it was all worth it :)

From start to finish, this salad takes about 20-30 minutes to make, so make sure you give yourself enough time and plan ahead when you are making dinner.

Here is what you are going to need (4 servings):

-1 lb of Medium Carrots, scrubbed and cut in half

-2 tbsp Cumin Seeds
-1 dried Chile, crumbled
-2 cloves Garlic
-1 tsp Thyme
-Olive Oil
-Red Wine Vinegar
-3 ripe Avocados, peeled and quartered
-1 Orange, halved
-1 Lemon, halved
-Salt and Pepper to taste
-2 cups of Mixed Greens
-⅔ cup Sour Cream
-4 tbsp of Sesame Seeds, toasted

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Take your carrots and scrub them until clean. Don't peel them! Just scrub them clean.

Then cut the carrots in half lengthwise and trim off the ends.

Blanch the carrots by boiling them for 5 minutes and shocking them in cold water. Drain the carrots and place them on a baking dish.

Combine the cumin seeds, thyme, crumbled Chile, garlic, dash of olive oil and red wine vinegar in a mortar and mash it up into a paste with your pestle....

Or if you are like me....small bowl and the end of a potato masher.

You don't have to tell me I'm classy...I already know!

This is what you want your marinating paste to look like.

Cover the carrots with the marinating paste and lay the halved orange and lemon upside down on the baking sheet.

Cook for 15-20 minutes or until the carrots are golden. Reserve.

Combine the cooked carrots and avocados in a bowl. Squeeze the cooked orange and lemon over the carrots and avocado.

In a separate bowl, combine the juice of one half orange, juice of one half lemon, dash of olive oil and dash of red wine vinegar. Season with salt and pepper and mix to incorporate.

Add the orange vinaigrette to the carrots and avocados. Mix to incorporate. Remove carrots and avocado with a slotted spoon. Set aside.

With reserved orange vinaigrette, toss the mixed greens.

Plate each salad with carrots and avocado. On top of carrots and avocado, place a dollop of sour cream and finish with toasted sesame seeds.

Enjoy!!!

Sorry some of the pictures are kinda funky. That's what I get for making this at night!

Print Recipe Here!