roasted carrot and avocado salad.

EAT YOUR VEGGIES!

If you’ve been hearing this over and over all our life but you lack any and all motivation to add more spinach, carrots or broccoli to your diet, may I recommend this salad.  It’s a fabulous dish for this time of year, and will help you feel better about that upcoming summer vacation you’re planning where you’ll inevitably have to don on a…(gulp)…bathing suit.

True story:  I made this last week for a quick lunch and ate half of it myself!  It’s supposed to serve 4.  Um…

The kids helped too since the roasted carrots become kind of sweet and caramelized, but I have to confess I can’t for the life of me get them to eat avocado.  I’ve decided they’re their father’s children in the picky eating department…I accept 0.0000% responsibility here

And it’s just downright pretty.  My only regret is that I bought orange carrots for the salad just before finding beautiful purple and white ones at the farmers market the next day.  Now THOSE would have made the salad gorgeous!

Roasted Carrot and Avocado Salad

(modified slightly from Smitten Kitchen.  serves 4 as a side dish, or 2 if you’re Andrew and me)

What You’ll Need:

Salad:

1 pound carrots (I used orange but other colors would be pretty too), peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

salt and pepper

1 avocado, sliced

juice from 1/2 lemon

Instructions:

Heat oven to 400F.

Toss carrots in a bowl with 1 tablespoon olive oil, cumin, and salt and pepper to taste.  Roast on a baking sheet for 20-30 minutes until carrots are tender and brown.  Thicker carrots may take closer to 30 minutes.

Once carrots have been roasted, arrange on a serving platter and top with sliced avocado.  Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil and lemon juice on top.  Add salt and pepper if needed.

Wondering how on earth I arrived at these costs?  Take a look at my shopping guide to show see what I pay for items, per serving, etc.

Nutrition:

187 calories per serving

14 grams of fat

15 carbs

2 grams protein

6 grams fiber

Did you give it a try?  Leave me a comment below or head over to Facebook and let me know what you think!