Apple, Beet and Carrot Vinaigrette

Prep Time: 20 minutes plus overnight marination  

wood-bowl-1420258_1920Level: Easy

Here is a no-recipe, recipe for a very colorful winter salad. Add the veggies in the amount that you like. This salad may be made raw and can be marinated in its dressing overnight. This salad also works well if you stir fry the veggies in a tablespoon of olive oil and make it a warm cooked salad instead of a raw salad. This keeps in the refrigerator for a week.

Ingredients

  • 1 Granny Smith apple
  • 1 carrot, young and tender, not woody and grainy
  • 1 medium sized beet or two small ones, also young and tender
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 1 tbsp. orange juice
  • 1 tbsp. lemon juice
  • 1 clove garlic, through a garlic press or grated
  • Salt and white pepper to taste
  • Optional: 1 young turnip julienned

Directions

Julienne one Granny Smith apple, one peeled, medium beet, and one carrot. Use a mandoline or box grater on the side with the biggest holes. You can also use a food processor with the grating blade. Mix up a vinaigrette with olive oil, orange and lemon juice, salt and pepper. I use a two to one ratio for oil to acid. This is not a very acidic vinaigrette because the orange juice adds a note of sweetness. I use a quarter cup of oil, a tablespoon of orange juice and a tablespoon of lemon juice. Take a clove of garlic and press it into a pulp or grate it, and add it into the dressing. Whisk the dressing with salt and white pepper to taste. Marinate the veggies overnight in the vinaigrette, puree and serve. If needed, puree a leaf of Boston lettuce with the marinated veggies to get the smooth texture.

For the Puree

Take a half cup of the salad with dressing and place in the bowl of a mini food processor or a high-powered blender. Pulse to break down the veggies, then puree for ten to twenty seconds to eliminate all lumps. If needed to get the veggies to a smooth consistency, add a tablespoon of water at a time. Raw spinach may be added to the puree for smoothness, but it will change the bright color of the salad, which is part of its appeal. If necessary, use a gel or powder xanthum gum thickener for your level of the NDD diet.

 

Featured photo credit: ponce_photography via Pixabay, cc