Carrot & Kale Salad with Creamy Honey Tahini Dressing

Carrot & Kale Salad with Creamy Honey Tahini Dressing

I love, love love these hearty wintery salads we’ve been making of late. They are just so delish and satisfying. This Carrot & Kale Salad is a step above though. Why, you ask? Well, because it’s tossed with the most wonderful, creamy, Honey Tahini Dressing.

All that and it’s dairy-free to boot! So, you can use as much of the dressing as you want. Seriously!

Carrot & Kale Salad with Creamy Honey Tahini Dressing

I’ve been experimenting a ton with cashew cream lately, and I’m pretty… pretty… pretty… obsessed. I love whirring it around in the blender and watching it transform from a chunky cashew mess to an amazingly smooth, creamy and wondrous blank palette.

I was actually a bit nervous when I tried to make it this time around, because I had made it before and it wasn’t pleasant. I remember it distinctly, I was trying to do a cashew crema for tacos, and it was just NOT the crema I was looking for. It was grainy and chunky and meh! So, I moved on with my life, forgot about it for a while.

Carrot & Kale Salad with Creamy Honey Tahini Dressing

The trick is folks, you need to give it enough time in the blender. It WILL become creamy smooth, just have a little patience. I mean, I think it prob takes all of 5 mins, but we are busy people! and 5 minutes seems like forever sometimes.

Honey Tahini Dressing

Back to the dressing now. The roasted veggies and the kale are all well and good (you do want to use hearty veg to stand up to this thick dressing though!), but the dressing is the star.

I took some of the cashew cream and whisked it up with tahini, honey, lemon juice and a pinch of salt.

Am now proceeding to drizzle it over everything I can get my hands on, eating it by the spoonful…etc etc.

Carrot & Kale Salad with Creamy Honey Tahini Dressing

Carrot & Kale Salad with Creamy Honey Tahini Dressing

I hope you enjoy this salad as much as we do!

How do you use your cashew cream?

Carrot & Kale Salad with Creamy Honey Tahini Dressing

Yield: 4 servings

Carrot & Kale Salad with Creamy Honey Tahini Dressing

Hearty pan-roasted rainbow carrots, tossed with tender massaged kale and the creamiest dairy-free honey tahini dressing. Enjoy!

Ingredients

    For the cashew cream:
  • 1 cup raw whole cashews
  • filtered water
  • For the salad:
  • 1 bunch tuscan kale, chopped
  • 1 lb carrots, chopped into 1" pieces
  • 4 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
  • 1 cup tofu, cubed and seared
  • 1/2 cup pecans, toasted and chopped
  • 1 tbsp chives, minced
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • For the Honey Tahini Dressing:
  • (Makes about 1 cup, you will probably have extra)
  • 3/4 cup cashew cream
  • 1/4 cup tahini
  • 2 tsp honey
  • juice of 1 lemon

Instructions

  1. MAKE CASHEW CREAM: Soak cashews, covered in filtered water, for 3 hours. Strain, rinse, add to high-powered blender. I have an Oster blender that works great and isn't $300. Add fresh filtered water and blend for about 5 minutes, scraping down the sides every couple of minutes if necessary, until the mixture becomes thick and creamy. Seriously, keep it going until it reaches the consistency of a thick batter!
  2. PREP: Preheat oven to 425 (if using a cast iron skillet, put it in the oven now). Chop carrots, peel garlic cloves. Massage the chopped kale by tossing with a little olive oil, lemon juice and a pinch of salt until it decreases in volume and smells like bananas (it's true!). Cube and prepare tofu as desired (we pan-seared ours in a small skillet with some olive oil, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes). Chop chives.
  3. ROAST: Toss carrots and garlic cloves with 1 tsp olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Add to preheated skillet, and roast in the oven for about 20-25 minutes, tossing once halfway through.
  4. TOAST: Toast pecans in a small skillet over medium heat until fragrant. Remove from heat and roughly chop.
  5. MAKE HONEY TAHINI DRESSING: Combine cashew cream, tahini, honey, lemon juice in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Season with salt to taste.
  6. SERVE: Toss everything together with a couple spoonfuls of dressing until well combined. Add more dressing as needed, but save some for drizzling over the top!

Notes

Make ahead: The cashew cream can be made in advance, store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.

The salad can also be made ahead of time, and served chilled or room temp. Just leave out the pecans until ready to serve.

https://kaleandcompass.com/carrot-kale-salad-creamy-honey-tahini-dressing/

Carrot & Kale Salad with Creamy Honey Tahini Dressing