by Jen L.
Have you ever had carrot and raisin salad? My mom goes nuts for it when she sees it on a menu. Chick-Fil-A has it as a side, but it's got mayonnaise on it, so I won't go near it. I've been bringing salads and such for lunch lately, and the other night I made a warm salad that involved brown rice, roasted sweet potatoes and black beans. I thought it would be nice to have something cold to go with it. I dug through the crisper and discovered a huge bag of matchstick carrots I'd forgotten about. Not wanting them to go bad, I decided to try a new spin on carrot and raisin salad, one I might actually like. I went to my old standby dressing, Kraft Anything Dressing, Balsamic Vinaigrette. I mixed about 2 cups of the matchstick carrots with 3 big snack boxes of raisins then tossed the salad in a light coating of the dressing. (I taste-tested first to make sure raisins in balsamic viniagrette wouldn't be nasty.) It was pretty good. I let it sit overnight, then tried it again before I committed to packing it in my lunchbox. It was REALLY good. The cold salad was a perfect accompaniment to my warm main dish. I ate it as a side twice, then put the rest atop a bed of spinach with some other veggies for a delicious lunchtime salad.
If you'd like a good break from the normal side dishes that won't leave you feeling greasy and guilty, give my alternative carrot and raisin salad a try.
(Bad iphone photo by me.)
Feel free to see my home decor and party ideas, i have collected a big list of them
Posted by: pinterest ideas | January 19, 2013 at 09:16 PM