Roasted Carrot Salad with Honey Cider Poppy Seed Dressing

This delicious Roasted Carrot Salad with Honey Cider Dressing is a perfect (and gorgeous) side for just about any entree. It also makes a fabulous vegetarian meal on its own!

Tired of the same-old, same-old carrots? If you've never thought of adding roasted carrots to a green salad, you're missing out on something super delicious. We've been enjoying this Roasted Carrot Salad for the past week and I know it will be a frequent flyer on the menu this season here at The Café! Besides the vibrantly-hued roasted carrots, this salad features slivers of red onions, pomegranate arils, rosemary toasted pecans, creamy goat cheese and one of our favorite salad dressings of all time, our Honey Cider Poppyseed Dressing.

Amazingly versatile

I love the versatility of this Roasted Carrot Salad. It makes a fabulous lunch with some warm, crusty bread and a cup of delicious soup, but it's also a wonderful side for just about any entree and would be lovely for a dinner party. You can also top it with some sliced or shredded rotisserie chicken and you've got a beautiful and healthy whole meal salad.

You can prep all the ingredients in advance, then just put them all together right before serving. I like the carrots to be just slightly warm, so if you're prepping the salad to serve later, you can use the microwave to gently reheat them.

An all-time favorite dressing

The dressing for this salad is an old friend, our Honey Cider Poppy Seed Dressing, that's super complimentary to all the other ingredients in this Roasted Carrot Salad. It's sweet and tangy and everyone seems to love it. I think the poppy seeds give such a pretty presentation!

Another thing that's wonderful about this dressing is that it's SUPER easy to put together. Just throw all the ingredients in a jar and shake, shake, shake. That's it! I love to have a jar of this Honey Cider dressing in my refrigerator as it makes preparing a healthy and delicious salad a breeze!

What kind of greens for this Roasted Carrot Salad?

I used a combination of arugula and watercress for this salad, but don't be limited to these particular greens. Use whatever looks freshest and prettiest at the market. Baby spinach would be nice as would a power greens mix. Sometimes if nothing looks great in the greens department at my local grocer, I'll pick up one of the boxes of artisan lettuces. They're not pre-washed in advance so I rinse them in cold water, then dry the greens in a spinner for another really nice base for this Roasted Carrot Salad.

What kind of carrots to use for this salad?

Honestly, when I'm in a hurry (most of the time), I love to use thick-cut baby carrots. I know there's been a lot of hype about baby carrots: "They're not real carrots", "They're not safe", "They're soaked in chlorine", "They're dangerous; a white film forms from the chlorine coming to the surface"... And on and on it goes. You can read more about my stance and the research on baby carrots in this post, but in a nutshell, I feel like they're an easy way to get some great nutrition.

Can you use regular whole carrots for this salad? Yes, of course you can. If they're super thick, I recommend halving them lengthwise and the slicing on a long angle.

How in the world do you get the seeds out of a pomegrante?

Great question! I used to actually avoid recipes with pomegranates. I thought it was too much of a mess and too fussy to try to remove the seeds. I knew you could buy pomegranate seeds at fancy stores like Whole Foods but it felt like robbing a bank to buy a little packet of the pomegranate arils (seeds). Then one day, a number of years ago, I discovered a wonderful, super easy technique for removing the seeds from a pom. With no mess, no fuss and no water.

I was thrilled and from that day on I looked forward each year to pomegranate season (it's starting right now!). I use pomegranate arils liberally now and we've done a tutorial post showing exactly how this simple technique works. Check out our post: The Easy Way to Remove Pomegranate Seeds.

So, Bon Appétit! Hope you enjoy this Roasted Carrot Salad as much as we do!

Café Tips for making this Roasted Carrot Salad

• Feel free to be flexible with this salad. Don't care for pomegranate arils? Just skip them. No pecans? Use walnuts! Have problems with dairy products? Omit the goat cheese. Can't find any pretty greens? Double up on the carrots and make this salad sans greens.
• This would make a wonderful salad for a fall holiday. I know we're not really gathering in large groups right now, but if you wanted to take this Roasted Carrot Salad to family or friends, it can easy be prepped ahead:
  • Wash (if needed) and dry the greens and keep them chilled in a ziplock bag or storage container.
  • Roast the carrots, cool slightly and place in a storage container in the refrigerator
  • Make the salad dressing and have it ready to go in a jar with a tight-fitting lid.
  • Deseed your pomegranate, place the arils in a storage container and refrigerate.
  • Toast the rosemary pecans, cool and store in bag or storage container at room temperature.
  • Crumble the goat cheese and store.
  • Slice the red onions and store.
  • Just before serving, spread the greens out onto a serving platter. Warm the carrots in the microwaave to take off the chill. Top the salad with the warm carrots, slivered red onion and pomegranate arils. Drizzle lightly with the dressing and finish off the salad with the rosemary pecans and goat cheese. Serve extra dressing at the table.

Thought for the day:

All we like sheep have gone astray;
    we have turned, every one, to his own way;
and the Lord has laid upon Him
    the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53:6

What we're listening to for inspiration:

Upon Him

If you enjoyed this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review! It’s so helpful to other readers to hear other’s results and ideas for variations.

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Roasted Carrot Salad with Honey Cider Dressing

This delicious Roasted Carrot Salad with Honey Cider Dressing is a perfect (and gorgeous) side for just about any entree. It also makes a fabulous vegetarian meal on its own!

Author: Chris Scheuer

Course: Main Salad, Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Roasted Carrot Salad

Prep Time: 25 mins

Cook Time: 30 mins

Total Time: 55 mins

Servings: 6

Calories: 178 kcal

Ingredients

For the rosemary pecans:

• 1 teaspoon butter
• ½ cup pecan halves
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

For the roasted carrots:

• 1 pound carrots if using baby carrots, halve them on an angle, lengthwise. If using whole carrots, peel them then slice on a long angle.
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the dressing:

• Honey Cider Poppy Seed Dressing

For the salad:

• 4 ounces salad greens
• ½ medium red onion thinly sliced
• ¼ cup pomegranate arils or seeds
• ¼ cup crumbled goat cheese

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For the pecans: Preheat the oven to 325˚F.

1. Combine the pecans, butter, rosemary and salt on a medium size baking pan and place in the oven for one minute until the butter is melted. Stir well to coat the pecans with the butter mixture. Bake for 10 minutes, stirring once half way through. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the pan.

For the roasted carrots:

1. Increase the oven temperature to 425˚F. Line a sheet pan with foil for easy cleanup.

2. Combine carrots, olive oil, salt and pepper on the prepared pan and stir to coat the carrots with the oil. Roast for 15-20 minutes, just until carrots are tender. Stir half way through to redistribute the carrots. Allow to cool a bit before topping the salad.

For the salad:

1. Arrange greens on a large serving platter. Top with the warm carrots, sliced red onion and pomegranate arils. Drizzle lightly with the dressing then finish the salad with the rosemary pecans and crumbled goat cheese. Pass extra dressing at the table.

Recipe Notes

See Café Tips above in the post for more detailed instructions and tips on how to prep this salad in advance.

The nutritional information for this salad does not include the Honey Cider Dressing. See that post for its nutritional infomation.

Calories 178kcal

Fat 14g

Saturated fat 3g

Cholesterol 6mg

Sodium 583mg

Potassium 341mg

Carbohydrates 11g

Fiber 3g

Sugar 5g

Protein 4g

Vitamin A 12963%

Vitamin C 10%

Calcium 49%

Iron 1%