I’ve discovered a salad that my daughter will gobble up like candy. In fact, she eats so much of it that she’s almost in danger of turning orange! I’m talking, of course, about good, old-fashioned carrot salad–but with a few updates and improvements.
Carrot salads are usually loaded with mayo and sugar, but I’ve found a way to cut out both and wind up with a salad that’s actually more delicious than the regular version. The not-so-secret ingredients are cashews and raisins, which when blended produce a creamy, lightly sweetened dressing that brings out carrots’ natural sweetness without smothering them. Normally I use lemon juice to balance out the sweetness, but just for fun this time I substituted orange juice for a sunny burst of flavor. If you have a good high-speed blender and a food processor, you will not believe how quickly this 6-ingredient recipe comes together.
Carrot-Cashew Salad
This salad tastes best if allowed to marinate for several hours before serving. The raisins blend better if they’re soaked first, but you can skip the soaking if you have a high-speed blender.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/2 cups raw cashews
- 1/4 cup fresh orange juice (or 2 tbsp. lemon juice)
- 1/4 cup plain soy milk (or other non-dairy milk)
- 1 pound carrots
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Place the raisins in a bowl and cover with hot water. Soak until raisins are plump. (Place in refrigerator if soaking overnight.)
- Drain the raisins (you may reserve the water to use for sweetening other dishes). Place 2 tablespoons raisins, 1/4 cup cashews, the orange juice, and the soymilk in a blender and blend on high speed until completely liquefied.
- Set up your food processor with shredding disk. Trim the carrots, cut them into lengths so that they can fit horizontally in the large feed tube, and shred them in several batches. Place carrots in a large bowl, stir in the cashew cream, and add salt to taste. Stir in the remaining raisins and cashews. Refrigerate for at least an hour and stir before before serving.
Note
You can bring out the flavor of the cashews by lightly toasting the ones that are tossed into the salad at the end, though I prefer keeping them raw because they’re more nutritious that way.
Preparation time: 10 minute(s) | Cooking time: 0 minute(s)
Number of servings: 7 (Yield: 3 1/2 cups)
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 115 calories, 34 calories from fat, 4g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 48.2mg sodium, 378.8mg potassium, 19.1g carbohydrates, 2.7g fiber, 11.3g sugar, 2.9g protein, 3.5 points.
More Salads for Hot Summer Days
Israeli Couscous Pilaf
Basic Low-Fat Coleslaw
Creamy Chickpea Salad
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Hi Susan,
This looks gr8..I think I might add white pepper here….but definitely looks very yummy…
thanks..
This sounds so good. I can’t wait to try it! I’m trying to cut back on the fats now that I think I’ve successfully eliminated animal from my diet and now I am working on anything processed such as crackers and the fats. Just taking it one step at a time.
This looks like such a wonderful potluck dish! I can’t wait to try this out, Susan!
Looks like the best summer salad I have seen yet. I must try this. Plus I can easily pack it for work!
This looks so good. I’m having a baby in Sept and after I would like to take the family to a fully vegetarian diet. (not ready to go vegan yet) We have done it before and although I was completely thrilled with how I felt and honestly how my children behaved but I find that I can’t seem to work out the iron thing. I get a little deficient. Do you take supplements or do you have any good book recommendations on balancing a vegetarian diet when you are just getting started? I love your blog, the food is just beautiful and bright.
Robin, I haven’t read it, but this new book, Vegan For Life, gets rave reviews for providing essential nutritional information for vegans. My family and I have never been iron-deficient, so I’m not sure what to suggest, but I’ll bet that book will address the issue. We take B12, calcium, DHA, and vitamin D supplements, but no iron.
Congratulations on your new baby, and good or you for moving your family to a vegan diet!
Robin, in addition to what Susan mentioned, I follow, “Eat To Live” by Dr. Fuhrman. He recommends a minimum of one cup of beans (legumes), 1 ounce of nuts or seeds and work towards one pound of greens raw plus cooked. If you follow his recommendations, you’ll have plenty of iron in your diet.
This article may be helpful as well. http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/iron.htm
Thank you so much. I will check it out.
Thank you Susan, I appreciate the link.
YUM! This looks and sounds soooo good.
Can’t wait to try this! It looks delicious!
Thank you SO much Susan for sharing this recipe!! I actually have turned a little oraange from eating too many carrots, mangos, pumpkin, sweet potato, peaches, etc! This looks absolutely DELICIOUS!
Lovin this… i bet my 2 yr old would love it, and my 13 yr old part-vegan….
This looks delicious, Susan!! What a scrumptious way to turn oneself orange!!
Thanks,
moonwatcher
This sounds so YUMBO, Susan! Can’t wait to make it!! (Added it to my Recipe Box too!!!) xxMarian
This looks like a GREAT potluck dish. It’s beautiful (I hate taking stuff that looks grey!) AND it is so simple. I hate having to take dishes to ANYTHING usually because I feel “performance pressure” and then have decided on NOTHING like one hour prior but this salad is SO beautiful!! I would have made it today to bring to a “gathering” but I just saw it before I have to hop in the shower! Next time! Thanks for providing such great food ideas.
Oh, other question, and it is probably on your blog already. But the “points” listed, are they for the new “fruits are free” type of program or the old WW?? Asking because many peeps in my life are into the WW and just wondering which on this is for?? THANKZ!
The points for this and other recent recipes (posted in the last 2 months) are the new points. Most of the earlier recipes have the old Flex points.
gonna try this – but will shred the carrots with a plain old four-sided grater as I have no processor. The Vitamix should be up to the challenge of making the dressing, though!
(Bet I can set up, shred and clean up faster with my grater than anybody with a processor! A little blood won’t make the salad non-vegan…)
ss
I love simple salads like this one. The sweet creaminess sounds quite appealing. Thanks for sharing, Susan.
This looks like a great idea. I’m a big fan of cashew cream in dishes for creaminess. Never thought to use it as a mayo replacement before.
I am totally making that this week. Yuh um!
If ‘E’ likes this, I know I will too!!! I’ve never been disappointed with the recipes I’ve tried from her list of favorites.
So please tell her thanks for me. Can’t wait to give this a try. I love how easy it is.
I loved the carrot salad receipe. When I was in Israel in 1977 I ,asked for a carrot salad receipe that I loved. But.. this one is by far much healthier and tastier !
I just made this! But I used almonds instead of cashews since that’s what I had around. Pretty good. Decided to add a little dried ginger and a dash of salt, now I’m addicted.
This looks and reads as something I would want to eat everyday! I think, with a pinch of cinnamon it would almost work as a carrot cake-like weekday dessert, or do you serve it as a sidedish?
Either way, I’ll be taking the risk of turning orange and make it, thanks!
Nice! Reminds me of the carrot chips (like potato chips made out of carrot) that my mom used to make
Yum… this sounds really great!! Perfect for lunches at work1 Thank you!
What a great idea! I mean it, this is going to be a regular at our house I just know it. I totally laughed out loud about the turning orange bit.
I’m working on a carrot recipe (time willing) I am going to bookmark this and link back to you for other great carrot salad recipes if that’s ok.
Wonderful! In my 20s I went thru a period where I’d eat 5 lbs of carrots a week. I’d make a salad with grated carrots, raisins, coconut shreds, alfalfa sprouts, pineapple and yogurt. I did kinda turn a bit orange, but, as well, having some bohemian genes in my heritage mix, may well contribute to my skin’s sallow orange cast.
I will try this salad. Sounds delightful.
This is sitting in the fridge right now, and from the ‘quality control’ bites I took before putting it in there, I think I am in love! Can’t wait to eat it, and already wishing I’d made a double batch! Thanks for sharing!
I made this tonight and LOVED IT!!! I went the lemon juice route, and also added some sesame oil and sriracha. Absolutely delicious. Thanks for sharing your genius with us
I had a boatload of carrots from my CSA and this salad is fantastic and fast. I used dates instead of raisins (what I had around) and this salad is really filling. From all the suggestions above I am sure this would make versatile dish–going more savory or sweet depending on what you added. Great dish!
I cannot use soy milk due to allergy. Would plain rice milk work for this?
It should work just fine with any non-dairy milk. I should have mentioned that!
This looks easy and delicious.
Cashews should be soaked overnight (in the fridge), or for at least a few hours, prior to blending, for them to be at their creaminess. So with this recipe, you could just soak them with the raisins.
Thank you!
I don’t find that soaking them makes a difference, but to each her own.
Love this salad idea Susan. I make a carrot salad very often too. You might like it. I mix diced tomatoes, grated carrots, coarsely ground roasted peanuts, lemon juice, a little sugar , pinch of chilly powder and salt to taste. It’s yum!! Thanks for your recipe
That looks gorgeous!!!! I’ve been craving new salad ideas and this is such a fun twist! Thanks!
Just made this tonight so I can have it tomorrow for lunch. It is sooooooooo delicious! It’s blender licking good.
I can’t wait to eat it after it has marinated a bit.
This. Sounds. SO easy and SO delicious! This sounds like one of those dishes that you can prepare in no time spontaneously whenever you crave it. I can imagine adding some cabbage to the mix turning it into a coleslaw!
Tobias
Ah, you hit on my secret: with a couple of extra herbs, this is the same dressing I use for coleslaw!
This recipe looks so good!! Do you have sugguestions on what to serve with it?
This is very interesting. a very healthy yet a delicious salad. Can’t wait to try it! Thank you for sharing.
Sounds good! I’ll definitely have to make it. It’s too bad my husband doesn’t like raisins, but as I say, more for me. ;-P
The traditional Finnish carrot salad would be very fitting for Fat-Free Vegan too: it’s just grated carrots and canned pineapple. Simple but very tasty. Of course it would be even better with fresh pineapple.
P.S. Taking calcium supplements is likely to do more harm than good. There is no good evidence it is beneficial for the bones – and may even be bad for them. It can have adverse cardiovascular effects and it can also worsen magnesium deficiency, which is already highly prevalent, even among people who eat very healthily. If there’s a supplement nearly everyone should take – besides vitamin D – it’s definitely magnesium, not calcium. The important bone-building ingredient which may be deficient in vegan diets isn’t calcium but vitamin K2, unless you eat natto…
This tasted amazing!! Thanks for yet another delicious recipe!
This looks so good but I can’t find raw cashews anywhere? Ideas
You can buy them online. It’s not the best option, but they’re really so good in creamy sauces and dressings.
This salad was fantastic! We will be making it again very soon. I wonder how it would taste with dried cranberries? Thanks so much for all your wonderful recipes
I made and enjoyed this but will stop when the batch is gone because – and this flummoxes me about virtually all “fat free” vegan recipes – it is actually quite high in fat. Nothing with 1/2 cup of cashews could by any stretch be considered fat free. I got Isa Moskowitz’ Appetite for Reduction, supposed to be low fat vegan – NOT. Scavenging on the net, things are apparently called low fat or fat free in a belief the fat you are using is more virtuous. Fat is fat, and raisins are high sugar, no wonder your daughter eats it like candy; it is, albeit more nutrient dense. Maybe if the raisin box read “high fructose concentration” that would ring the appropriate alarm bell. It is certainly a great way to eat raw carrots but it is not fat free or sugar free.
It is labeled as a higher-fat recipe, not a fat-free one.
so – it’s 11:00 and i just made this to have “for lunch” in a few hours… but half of it is gone already! what an awesome recipe! thanks for sharing it!
Oh my, Susan. You’ve done it again. I just made this and I cannot bare to leave it in my fridge to marinate. I must eat it right now, its too good. Thanks so much for this recipe. I’m definitely going to make it again!
Mmm…perfect for the warmer weather! Although I would add almond milk….don’t like the phytoestrogens in soy.
Hello!
I tried this carrod salad and found it great! Here in Finland the carrot salad includes only carrot – nothing else, so for me this was a dessert. But what’s better than dessert-salad!
Wow. This salad was amazing! Sure to say there are no leftovers, and even my fussy 3-year old son claimed it was “yummy”. Next time I’m bringing salad to a pot-luck, I’m bringing this one.
Delicious! The dressing was A-mazing! My only recommendation would be to try to squeeze as much water as you can from the carrots before you add the other ingredients because it tasted just a little watered down. I tasted the dressing before I added, so I know it wasn’t that. Other than that, fabulous!
I found your blog through a search for a carrot salad. This one came up and I just made it. Wow!! It’s great! My only deviation from the recipe was to add a little bit of orange zest with the juice.
Thanks so much for a great collection of recipes. I’m going to spend a lot of time here as I try to clean up our diet.
Thank you so much for this recipe! I make it all the time. I never have raisins here so I substitute craisins or chopped dried plums. My all time favorite salad recipe!
Yummmmm! I’m having leftovers for breakfast !!
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