Christmassy Salad

Aurelia Brogan
Dec 17, 2020
2 min read

Carrot, beet, lentil and arugula salad

A beautiful salad or side dish bright in color and flavor. With hints of orange and a few pre-made "cheat" items from Trader Joe's, this salad is so easy and has it all going on. Lots of red and green veggies make this a great holiday dish–you can even make it even more Christmassy by assembling veggies in a wreath shape with the dressing in the center of the platter.

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time30 mins

Course: Main Course, Salad, Side Dish

Keyword: Arugula, Beet, Carrot Cake, Christmas cookies, Gluten Free Salad, glutenfreecookies, healthy, holiday cookies, Kale Salad, lentil, Orange, side dish

Servings: 6 people

Ingredients

8-10 red carrots (or orange if you can't find red ones)
1 package steamed and peeled ready to eat beets (from Trader Joe's produce area) or you can roast fresh when roasting your carrots
1 package streamed ready to eat lentils from Trader Joe's produce area (canned works fine also)
1/2 bag both arugula and baby spinach (or one bag of your favorite salad greens)
1/2 cup radicchio, sliced into 1/2" x 3" pieces
1 tbsp olive oil
dash salt, pepper

Citrus Dressing

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp orange juice
zest of one orange
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 shallot, chopped fine (optional)
2 tsp honey
1/4 tsp each salt and pepper

Other Toppings

1/4 cup honey goat cheese or feta cheese (optional)
1/4 cup candied pecans (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400°. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Peel carrots and if possible leave on a tiny bit of the stem if they came with the leaves.

Toss the carrots in the tbsp of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast the carrots 30-35 minutes until tender, but not soft. You want a bit of crunch for the salad.

Cool carrots on the sheet they roasted on.

Meanwhile slice your beets into quarters. When the carrots have come to room temperature, slice them at an angle into 2 inch pieces.

Begin to layer your salad. Layer half of the greens on a large platter or salad bowl. Sprinkle with 1/2 the lentils and then alternate the carrots with the beets and radicchio so that everyone will have a bite of each. Add the remaining arugula and a last sprinkle of lentils.

If you are using goat cheese and pecans sprinkle these on top.

Dress right before serving. It's best drizzled over the top, not tossed.