French Carrot Salad With Honey Dijon Dressing

One bite and you’ll know this is a keeper!

Carrot Salad

If you’re like me, you always have carrots in the fridge. Also, if you’re like me, you’re “always” scratching around for quick vegetable side dishes to serve with dinner. So – ever thought about making Carrot Salad?? It’s quick, it’s unbelievably tasty, and you’ve probably got everything you need to make it right now. And you can feel very tres chic because grated carrot salad is actually a French dish!! You’ll love how this salad gets nice and “juicy” – just like Coleslaw!

Here’s what you need

Carrots are kind of mandatory here (being a Carrot Salad recipe and all 😂) but other than that, you can switch out the other ingredients:

green onion – this adds a touch of freshness, easily substituted with red onion, eschallots/French onion or even very finely sliced normal onions;parsley – more for visual than anything, so feel free to leave it out. Coriander/cilantro is also really lovely here, as are chives and chervil;dijon mustard – American or wholegrain mustard will also be fine here. It’s used for thickening and a touch of touch. Just not hot English mustard – too spicy!Lemon juice – white wine vinegar, red wine vinegar, champagne, sherry or any other slightly less harsh vinegar than plain white vinegar will work a treat here.

As for how to make it – it’s nothing more than shaking up the Dressing in a jar then tossing everything together in a bowl.

French Carrot Salad!

This Carrot Salad is actually a riff on French Carrot Salad. Fresh vegetable sides are few and far between at traditional Parisian bistros, but if they do have one, it’s probably a grated carrot salad. A traditional grated French Carrot Salad is dressed more simply with just lemon juice and olive oil. It’s fresh and light, intended to cut through rich French food. This Honey Dijon Mustard dressed version has more flavour – so much so that I’ve had it as a light meal on more than one occasion. Try piling it on toasted bread spread with ricotta!

What to serve with Carrot Salad

Carrot Salad is versatile enough to pair with any protein. It pairs with a simple Juicy Baked Chicken Breast as well as it does a golden seared Marinated Pork Chop. It’s fresh enough to serve alongside a rich Garlic Butter Steak and flavourful enough to be a striking side for a simple piece of Crispy Pan Fried Fish. And it’s just as suited for a simple midweek meal like everybody’s favourite Meatloaf, yet unique enough for a dinner party. Try it on the side of grand centrepieces like:

Herb and Garlic Roast ChickenEpic Prime Rib (Standing Rib Roast) – or Marinated Roast BeefRoast Turkey!Brown Sugar Garlic Butter Roast Pork – or Roast Pork with Crispy CracklingClassic Sunday Roast Lamb Leg OR an incredible slow cooked Lamb Shoulder

Enjoy! – Nagi x