Prepare this quick yet delicious and healthy crunchy apple-carrot salad for a mid-week meal or as a Sunday’s lunch side dish. Crunchy carrots and apples are tossed with a creamy Tahini dressing and topped with some more crunch, mixed seeds.
Yes, back to salads. Salads are some of the easiest dishes to prepare. And easy doesn’t mean boring. Not at all. Moreover, a salad doesn’t always need to be green, right? I mean, look at this three-ingredient salad. It’s colourful, a combination of orange carrots and red apples, easy to prepare and you can literally see how crispy it is. Wink.
I love this salad. It is a great dish on its own but it’s also a lovely salad idea for a grill party or a holiday table. Also, besides being delicious and very easy to prepare, it’s very healthy, too. And I am not saying that just because it happens to be a salad.
Firstly, carrots are weight loss-friendly and a good source of beta carotene, vitamins, fibre and antioxidants. And, as we all know, carrots are incredibly good for improving eye health. I love them as a movie snack, too. Yummy.
Secondly, apples. Well, we all know the saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”. To say it more clearly, an apple doesn’t offer protein but is rich in vitamins, fibre and antioxidants which are said may boost digestion, brain and heart health. So that saying might be plausible. Wink.
Why to chew slow
And thirdly, you have to chew it properly and not just “inhale” it in a hurry. It’s some kind of a jaw gym. Wink. Try to chew every bite at least 30 times. It will really take to engage all of your attention on chewing. As a result, it will take you longer to finish your meal and make you appreciate your food more, it will help you absorb fats faster, it improves digestion (chewing is the first step of digestion after all) and promotes repair in your body.
Try to add a crunchy ingredient to your salads. It can be a crunchy vegetable, fruit or simply choose between different seeds and nuts. Not only makes a variety of textures a salad interesting but it makes it healthier, too.
Looking for more fun and colourful salads? Check out these salad recipes: a fun beetroot kiwi cube, a simple pea and radish chicken salad, an aromatic grilled pepper pea salad, a delicious golden zucchini salad, a summerish Cantaloupe melon arugula salad, a classic Olivier Russian potato salad or a berry butterhead lettuce salad.
Ingredients for 2-3 portions of crunchy apple-carrot salad:
- 2-3 carrots
- 2 crunchy apples
- a couple of spoons of mixed salad seeds (pumpkin seeds, sesame, flax seeds, sunflower seeds)
- 2 Tbsp of olive oil
- 1 lemon (juice)
- 2 tsp of Tahini paste
- 1 tsp of mustard (optional)
- a pinch of salt
To begin, wash and peel the carrots. Carefully cut them into 2-3 mm thick slices (lengthwise) and then the slices into matchstick-look-alike sticks. Place them in a medium bowl, squeeze some lemon juice on top and put aside.
Next, wash, halve and core the apples. Then, slice them in the same way as you did with the carrots. Add them to the carrots and squeeze some lemon juice on the apples, too. Give it a gentle toss.
Furthermore, prepare the tahini salad dressing. In a small bowl, combine olive oil, lemon juice of half a lemon, Tahini paste, mustard and some salt. Stir well and pour it over the salad. Toss to combine.
Finally, divide the crunchy apple-carrot salad between two or three bowls and add the mixed salad seeds as a topping. If you want something more, serve it with some cheese or on a side of some grilled chicken or meat.
Enjoy!
