Curried Apple and Carrot Salad

Growing up is not always fun.

I have to pay my own bills. I have a real, full time job that takes up 8 hours of every day. I have to pay taxes and contribute to social security and worry about things like insurance. When something happens with our house or cars, we have to get them fixed ourselves.

And when my computer stops working, I have to steal my husband’s to blog until I can get a new one. PS: Going back to posting directly in WordPress after using Windows Live Writer? Not fun at all. I feel like I’m re-learning everything about blogging this week.

But the other side of being a grown up is pretty nice. 

I pick the music I want to listen to (almost always The Avett Brothers). I get to pick out my own clothes. Things like decorating and movie choices and fun errands are all mine.

And I get to decide what I want to eat and what I don’t want to eat.

I hated carrots when I was kid. Raw, cooked, it didn’t matter; I didn’t want them anywhere near my plate. Even after getting married, I wasn’t a fan of carrots. It took me a few years of slowly adding small pieces to soups and stews or a pan of roasted vegetables to get to the point where I would finally try them raw.

After finally admitting that I didn’t mind the cooked carrots (and I did not enjoy admitting that to myself – or my family – after all those years of letting them know how much I didn’t like them), I decided to try them raw on a salad.

But not in big thick slices. I took my vegetable peeler and shaved off paper thin strips of carrot, turning that vegetable I used to hate into bright orange ribbons for a salad topper.  Now salads aren’t the same without those crunchy strips of carrot.

I still won’t eat carrots compeltely on their own or dipped into dressing or hummus as a snack, but I’ve finally learned to enjoy them in dishes – raw or cooked – and especially in salads.

Now that apples are in season, I love having them around to toss into salads. This mix of tart apples, crunchy carrots, and sweet dried cherries gives a fun new twist on a typical carrot salad. A little bit of spice from curry, tang from the yogurt, and a pinch of cinnamon and ginger bring everything together.

Carrots may have finally made the cut, but don’t get me started on applesauce.

Curried Apple and Carrot Salad

Makes: 4 servings

Ingredients:

  • 2 medium apples, cored and diced
  • 2 carrots, peeled into thin strips with a peeler and cut into 1-2″ pieces
  • 1/2 cup dried cherries
  • 1/4 cup plain yogurt
  • 1 tsp curry powder
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric
  • 1/8 tsp salt

Directions:

  1. In a medium bowl, toss the apples, carrots, and dried cherries together.
  2. Stir the yogurt, curry powder, ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, and salt into the salad and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes before serving.

25 comments

  1. I’m exactly the same when it comes to carrots so this salad really appeals to me! And anything with the flavours of curry makes me swoon.

  2. :) i am carrot crazy! I eat them raw pretty much every day! The salad sounds like a nice switch up! Dried cherries? Yum!

    • The dried cherries with the spices were my favorite! I made sure to take spoonfuls as much of the cherries as possible :)

  3. This definetly combines two of my mose favourite foods! Haha looks great :)

  4. Sounds like my experiments with peppers! I always hated them, and now I’m to the point where I will eat them cooked in soups or grain dishes…but I have yet to be okay with them raw!

  5. What a creative dish! All the flavors sound like they go so nicely together, love the dried cherries addition!

  6. I’m fine with carrots when they are raw, but cooked. Blech. Can’t do it!

  7. dried cherries sound fabulous in this! and i’m glad you’ve come around to carrots :) try them roasted with some coconut oil!!

  8. Yes, being a grown up does come with quite a few advantages… :)

    I used to not like raw carrots very much either when I was young. I was fine with cooked carrots and actually liked my mom’s carrots and peas a lot. When I was in high school my mom started making a carrot apple salad, and I actually liked the raw carrots in it. I think it was the first time I enjoyed raw carrots. I think her salad was very similar but didn’t have curry powder. I’ll have to make your salad soon to bring back some memories! :)

  9. lol. being grown up is nice indeed, no one to tell you you have to eat vegetables. Just the guilt of knowing you should :) I don’t mind carrot, but they aren’t a favorite. The way you did them here look great. I’d enjoy this dish :)

  10. Great spices in there. I love ginger and cinnamon together.

  11. Love the idea of apples, raisins and carrots with curry! Kind of a new twist on a carrot-raisin salad. Trying this recipe this weekend. Possibly sooner :-)

  12. This looks like the perfect lunch for me!

    I’ve never met anyone who didn’t like carrots. How do you feel about beets? I feel like beets taste like dirt and that’s an acquired taste. But carrots taste like sugar! :)

  13. what you don’t like applesauce!!! how can that be?? you aren’t basing that statement on applesauce purchased in a store are you? if so, it would be very unfair to judge all applesauce by that. have you ever had homemade applesauce that is made w/ a combination of apples and stil has chunks of the cooked apples, no added sugar, cinamon and nutmeg? it not only makes your kitchen smell wonderful but it tastes wonderful also – either warm from the pot or after cooling. where do you live? i will bring some over for you and try to make a convert out of you :)

  14. Carrots I love, it’s beets I’m still trying to get into.

  15. You don’t like applesauce?! Well, at least you like APPLES. That’s enough for me :) And apples and carrots with curry is like a dream come true!

  16. Ooooh, so sorry to hear about the computer troubles. But growing up does have some advantages, indeed and this salad is one of them!

  17. My family members always say that I am killing my time here at net, but I know I am getting
    familiarity every day by reading such good content.

Comments are closed.