Beet & Carrot Salad with Agave Nectar & Ginger Vinaigrette

Sometimes as a starter, sometimes as a snack, sometimes as a meal in itself. Sometimes layered and drizzled with freshly made vinaigrette, sometimes well-tossed with a rich creamy dressing... anywhichway we make it, we love salads.

This Beet and Carrot salad with Spring Greens is one of our favorites: the combination of freshly grated beets and carrots, plus the simple vinaigrette on the slightly sweet side enhancing the beet and carrot flavors seems to make this almost addictive.

Pictured here is this salad served with a small sandwich made of: home-made buckwheat buns (recipe to come) toasted with some Swiss cheese, black bean burger (made very much like the Mock Kibbeh recipe but with black beans instead of chickpeas), some pepperoncini, onions and sun-dried tomatoes.

Ingredients
Salad:
Organic Baby Spring Greens
Raw Carrots and Beets, finely grated or shredded
Onion or Alfalfa Sprouts
Toasted Sunflower Seeds

Agave Nectar, Ginger, Chili Vinaigrette:
50 ml raspberry or pomegranate red wine vinegar; or plain red wine vinegar
50 ml Agave nectar
25 ml Sambal Oelek or any favorite Chili paste
150 ml Hazelnut Oil or Olive oil
1 clove of garlic, finely grated or crushed
1 - 2 tsp of freshly grated ginger, to taste
¼ tsp each salt and black pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Combine the dressing ingredients and whisk or beat well, adjust flavors to taste
2. Layer the salad items, top with sunflower seeds, drizzle some dressing

Alternately, use Romaine hearts or any favorite greens, julienne the carrots and finely grate the beets, garnish with avacado if preferred, sprinkle slivered almonds instead of sunflower seeds... this is a flexible and versatile salad with the agave-nectar-ginger vinaigrette pulling the elements together :)