by Carol Harrison, RD
Fat in salad is a good thing! The fat from the avocado and salad dressing helps our body to absorb the vitamin A from the carrots and helps us feel full.
Grilled Carrots with Maple Dijon Dressing
Ingredients
Dressing
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
- 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Salad
- 4 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch slices
- 1 Tbsp canola oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 6 cups packed arugula, baby kale or spinach leaves
- 3 green onions, thinly sliced
- 2 sweet red peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
- 2 avocados, ripe, pitted and cubed
- 1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans
Instructions
- Dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together maple syrup, oil, mustard, thyme, salt and pepper.
- Salad: In a medium-sized bowl, toss carrots in oil, salt and pepper to combine. Transfer carrots to a grill basket. Cook on grill over medium-high heat, until slightly charred and tender, 20-25 minutes. Toss to coat in half the dressing. Let cool.
- In a large bowl, combine carrots with arugula (or mixed greens), green onions and peppers. Top salad with avocados and pecans. Drizzle salad with part or all of the remaining dressing.
The carrots we’re most familiar with are orange, but carrots actually come in many colours including purple, yellow and white. Orange carrots get their bright colour from beta-carotene, an antioxidant that is converted to vitamin A in the body. Vitamin A contributes to eye and vision health. In fact, a 100 gram serving of carrots provides more than 100 per cent of the recommended daily intake of vitamin A and there are ongoing studies looking at varieties of carrots that could further help with vision and eye health.
Carrots are root vegetables that are grown across Canada. To control for pests in the crop, farmers practice integrated pest management. This means they monitor their crops frequently to see if the crop has any signs of pest issues. If they detect a threatening insect, weed pressure or disease in the crop that has the potential to harm the harvest, they look at all the options available to protect the crop. Sometimes this means using a pesticide.
Farmers rely on pesticides to protect plants against pests and diseases to reduce the risk of crop failure while at the same time improving the quantity and quality of food available which helps keep food prices affordable. Canadians save over $4,000 a year per household at the grocery store because farmers have access to tools like pesticides.
