If you were at market this weekend or were in the Seacoast area, you knew we had a heck of a rain storm during the Portsmouth market this week! Sadly, I had prepared for you all a Seacoast Eat Local favorite recipe for sampling, and not much of it got around due to the down-pour weather we had. I thought showcasing it in my blog post this week would be a perfect way to not only spread the word about carrots during their peak season, but also give you a recipe for a perfect summer side salad or slaw, base for a new coleslaw, or as fresh flavor addition on top of a burger!
This recipe is super simple, easy-to-follow, with basic preparation, so I think you’ll really like this one! And if you’re thinking of going in the more coleslaw direction with this recipe, I would recommend substituting one carrot for about an 1/8 cup of cabbage or other mixed slaw veggies. If you ever need it, we also have a printed version of this recipe with other carrot recipes at our booth at market! Ask us for ingredient ideas for many of the foods for sale at market!
Ingredients:
- 1tsp Dijon mustard
- 1Tbsp lemon juice
- 5tsp peanut oil
- 5 medium carrots
Instructions:
Whisk together mustard, lemon juice, and peanut oil in a bowl. Add carrots, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss well.
I bought my carrots the night before for my demo, and I ended up grating my carrots very fine, which I found was good for filling in sample cups at market, and was very tasty over my salad that I had for lunch that day. However, I would suggest that for a slaw or as a topping, you should grate the carrots much less finely, something equivalent to what you might shave off for a coleslaw. It also ensures that if you do mix it with cabbage or other veggies, that the proportions of each veggie are equivalent.
Carrots are rich in potassium, dense with dietary fiber, and chuck-full of antiseptic and antibacterial properties, making them almost ideal for setting you up to feel great! In people with healthy renal function, the potassium can help to lower blood pressure by releasing some tension in your arteries and veins. Dietary fiber, as we talk wildly about in my blog posts usually, is a sure-fire way to keep you full and to provide comfort in and ease of digestion, and helps to keep blood sugar levels in a normal, healthy range. The immune-boosting properties of carrots includes Vitamin C as well, which, as we have also talked a lot about this summer, is a common, effective immune response booster, and collagen-builder, leaving you feeling great and with healthy skin and other tissues!
I hope that this recipe is a gateway for you to make something extremely local, fresh, nutritious, and memorable this summer!