The Avocado, Carrot and Beet Salad

I am done whale watching. It was an ethereal trip, a much needed one too, before the balls and chains of the good ol’ 9-5 comes falling down.

Anyway, back to food postings as I’ve neglected this blog far too long. I will start with a simple carrot, avocado and beet salad. Ooouff! That’s a mouthful, isn’t it? Let’s just call it the CABS. I guess I could call it SCABS too but that would be a bit gross. 😛

A big part of this salad recipe is assembling everything together. But it does involve a little big of cooking.

The CABS salad is healthy and surprisingly hearty. The orange and balsamic vinaigrette gives it a good tangy punch that leaves you pleasantly surprised at just how good everything feels and taste in your mouth 🙂 There is a surprise spice in there that rounds it all off. It’s also a best friend to carrot. See if you can spot it.

Carrots, Avocado and Beets Salad recipe:
2 carrots, peels and cut into 3 inch length-wise
2 beets, peels and quartered
Beet leafs, washed and drained (optional, but they are lovely as salads)
1 avocado, skinned and sliced
1 zucchini cut into the same size as the carrots (optional ingredient but I added it in)

Dressing:
1 whole orange juice and some pulp
zest of a whole lime
2 tbsp of olive oil
1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp cumin seeds, toasted on hot pan for 1 min and crush slightly with the back of your knife
salt and pepper

Method:
1. Heat up a half full pan of water. Season the water with 1 teaspoon of salt.
2. When water boils, add your zucchini to boil for 2 minutes. Take the zucc’s out with a slotted spoon.
3. In the same water, add your carrots and beets in to cook for about 8minutes. You can cook the carrots and beets separately but i like the color the beets imparts to the carrots, it becomes a ruby orange 🙂
4. As your vegetables are cooking, make your dressing. In a large salad bowl, add your quartered avocados in. Add orange juice, zests, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and season with some salt and pepper onto the avocados. Toss to mix and set aside.
5. Assemble your vegetables, hot and steaming, by adding it into the bowl with the marinated avocados and toss together.

Serve with some croûtons and drizzle with a little bit more balsamic.

Tastiest salad ever. And cumin was the surprise spice. It goes very, very well with beets and carrots 🙂