My brother Dan brought this recipe beet salad with tahini dressing into my life. Him and his girlfriend used to make this often. To get me involved they started asking for my help making the dressing. After I had made the tahini dressing just a few times in their presence, they made me do it from ever on, which was how I built my confidence in making salad dressings. It is so creamy and yummy, it perfectly balances the earthiness of the raw beets and the sweetness of the carrots.
If you need a good way to include raw beets in your diet, this is it. It is also a great way to use raw carrots and beets from your garden. Guests are amazed at how good it tastes. Most people eating this salad recipe eat way more beets in one sitting than they ever would have. Remember, tahini is from ground sesame’s so anyone with an allergy to this should be warned : )
If you looking for another way to use raw beets and carrots, juicing them has amazing health benefits. My very favorite homemade fresh juice is carrot apple beet juice with ginger. Afterwards I often use the pulp to make pulp bread.
If you like beets and sweets you should check out my killer recipe for beet brownies and also my healthy carrot cake recipe.
Raw carrot and beet salad with tahini dressing
Yield: 4-6 servings
Equipment: Food processor or other method for grating beets and carrots (e.x. mandoline slicer, spiralizer, cheese grater), and a blender for dressing.
Ingredients for the salad:
- 10 medium-large carrots
- 2-3 beets
- Lettuce or mixed baby greens
Tahini dressing ingredients:
- 6 tablespoons tahini
- 2 medium cloves garlic, chopped
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ cup (or more water)
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
- salt
- optional: add a little goat cheese to make it creamy
Steps:
- First, prepare the dressing in blender by combining all ingredients until smooth.
- Next, grate the carrots and then the beets (easiest in food processor), if you wish squeeze a little lemon over them so the carrots keep their color.
- Place the carrots and beets in bowl and mix in the dressing, serve on top of lettuce or mixed baby greens (you will have more dressing than salad, dressing should stay good in refrigerator for about 5 days).
Resources on the Health Benefits of Beets, carrots, and tahini