Shredded Beet Carrot Carousel Salad

April 22, 2009

Here is a refreshing salad that is a great starter for a summer dinner or a single serving. Whether you are entertaining for guests or making a meal for yourself, you can prepare all the components in advance. Then all you will have to do is assemble the layers of the dish minutes before serving.

The key to the pulled together look of this salad is the use of single serving ring molds, like what I recently purchased from Sur La Table store in Pasadena, CA. I checked the site and it appears they didn’t feature the ring molds, so the photo to the left serves as a visual example of the type used.

Shredded Beet Carrot Carousel Salad

Purple, red, white, and yellow carrots make gorgeous alternatives to standard orange carrots, and in place of red beets, pretty golden or Chioggia beets would make an eye-appealing stand-in. The ingredient quantities in this recipe can easily be doubled, or more, for larger servings.

1 medium red beet [about 1 cup], peeled and shredded
3 - 4 carrots [about 1 cup], peeled and shredded
½ cucumber, sliced paper-thin
¼ small onion, peeled and minced
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
5 – 6 sprigs fresh dill, reserve a few sprigs for garnish

Rinse and peel the beets and carrots. Set up a food processor with the grater blade attachment. Cut the beets into small wedges that can fit through the food processor for shredding. Shredded the beets. Add the shredded beet to a small mixing bowl and set aside.

Rinse the food processor bowl and attachments before proceeding to shred the carrots. Shred the carrots. Place the shredded carrots into a separate small mixing bowl and set aside.

Slice the cucumber into paper-thin slices or as thin as possible. Place the cucumber slices in a bowl and set aside. Mince the onions and add half to the beets; the other half to the carrots.

In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Add 1/3 of the dressing to the bowl of beets, carrots, and cucumbers. Stir to coat and let marinate for 15 minutes or longer.

Assembly:

Place a 1 ¾ x 3 ½-inch ring mold in the center of a serving plate. Carefully fill the ring mold layering it with about ½ cup of the shredded beets, and then the sliced cucumbers. Press down firmly on the cucumber to pack down the two layers. Continue layering with the fresh dill sprigs, then the shredded carrots, and press down firmly. Let set for a minute or two, and then carefully lift to remove the ring mold. Garnish with sprigs of dill. Serve immediately.

Serves 2

Tweet This: Send Page to Twitter

-->

Comments

13 Comments so far

Zara on April 23, 2009 Thursday, 9:02 am
That looks amazing!
Aurora on April 23, 2009 Thursday, 9:40 am
That sure is pretty!
Cheris Courtney on April 23, 2009 Thursday, 9:51 am
I am not a big fan of beets but for whatever reason I’v been wanting some lately. And this looks so delicious and mouthwatering.
Gotta try it!

- Sounds like beets are calling out to you. Maybe your body needs something they offer, like calcium, magnesium, on of the vitamins [A, C…]. Beets are delicious ~ do try them. Don’t forget to try the beet greens!
shernell on April 23, 2009 Thursday, 12:06 pm
Very fresh
margot Weening on April 23, 2009 Thursday, 2:04 pm
thank you so much for sharing your inspiring recipes and pictures
earthmother on April 23, 2009 Thursday, 6:08 pm
LOVE carrots and beets together.

Guess what I have? A gift certificate to Sur La Table! Think it’s time to crack it out and go shopping.

Earthmother - That’s great! Do you know what you might buy? If you are considering the single serving ring molds last I checked, which was yesterday, Sur La Table didn’t offer this item online but they do in their store. Have fun shopping at Sur La Table!
Nicole on April 24, 2009 Friday, 9:59 am
This looks beautiful! I have found that having my food presented nicely makes it more palatable. Thanks for the recipe:)
Omid on April 25, 2009 Saturday, 9:29 pm
I love beets Ingrid… so crunchy, refreshing and tasty. Especially with carrots and lime juice. It wakes you up in midsts of heat… and then some with the chillies :-)

Hi Omid - Mmmm, spicin’ it up with chilies sounds good.
Gena on April 26, 2009 Sunday, 7:03 pm
How on earth do your recipes always look so spectacular?? Thanks for this :)I love your blog.
alissa on April 27, 2009 Monday, 5:03 pm
beautiful!
Zara on April 27, 2009 Monday, 7:27 pm
Oh my that is a gorgeous looking meal!
Lindsay on April 27, 2009 Monday, 11:15 pm
Yay, had to print this off. I’ve got just about all the ingredients growing in my garden right now (including “cosmic” purple carrots, grin), and I’m always looking for things to do with beets in particular. :)

Hi Lindsay - Cosmic purple carrots ~ nice. Hum, you could use purple carrots and then try using a little color beet, like the yellow beet for color contrast.
Aletheia on January 24, 2010 Sunday, 8:12 pm
Ingenius!

Get The Raw Epicurean Report free monthly food news in your inbox

For Email Marketing you can trust

Receive the latest raw vegan recipes and related posts via email alerts | RSS subscription

Let's connect via Twitter

Join our fabulous community

Herb of the Month

Rose is the featured herb for February. We'll highlight its benefits, showcase it in raw vegan recipes, and at the end of the month a reader's name will be drawn from the comments, and our sponsor