Carrot Poppy Seed Salad

Hi! How is everything going today? We are just breezing through the week already. I had such a good time after work today. I met up with an old friend (who happens to be dating my cousin) and went for trail run over in SW Portland. If any of you are runners out there, you know how good an early summer run around 6pm feels. There were lots of hills and the scenery was straight out of the movie Twilight. For all you Twilight fans out there, Blake’s sister got married at The View Point Inn last summer. This was where Bella & Edward’s prom was filmed. Her wedding was absolutely beautiful!

Anyway, back to the kitchen! This past Sunday I prepped all of my salads and snacks for the week. It was so much fun to take all my fresh produce and create enough salads to last me through the work week. I even packaged them in individual container so that they would easy to grab on my way out the door in the morning.

Here’s the first one based off of a salad from the New Season’s deli case.

Carrot Poppy Seed Salad

2 cups shredded carrots (you can buy the bags of pre-shredded one or shred the carrots yourself)

1 (15 oz) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1/4 cup cilantro leaves, chopped

1/2 Tablespoon poppy seeds

Dressing:

3 Tablespoons fresh lime juice (or substitute lemon juice)

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon Penzey’s Sate seasoning (or 1/4 teaspoon brown sugar and 1/4 teaspoon sea salt with a pinch of garlic powder)

1/2 teaspoon Mountain Rose Herb’s West Indes Rub (or 1/4 teaspoon powdered garlic, teaspoon black pepper, with a pinch of powdered ginger)

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

In a small bowl or magic bullet, combine the lime juice, olive oil, spices and salt. Place the carrots, garbanzo beans and cilantro in a large bowl. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss. Sprinkle with the poppy seeds. You can store this is the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

I’m off to read the newest issue of “Whole Living” magazine. Does anyone else get that one? Have a great day!