Roasted Carrot Salad
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Arugula, blue cheese, dried cranberries, almond, and roasted carrots come together to create this delicious and fresh Roasted Carrot Salad.
Today I’m taking a break from desserts to share this Roasted Carrot Salad.
Roasted Carrot Salad:
Even though I love sweets and serve up lots of recipes for them here on Inspired by Charm, I have been dieting for the past month or so. When it comes to food, I’m all about balance. Yesterday I shared a decadent cake recipe.
Despite being on a diet, you can bet I enjoyed a couple pieces of that cake. Yes, I ate less for lunch and dinner and worked my butt off on the treadmill, but I wasn’t missing out on Cream Puff Cake.
Through my dieting, I’ve noticed what a difference eating lots of fresh greens and veggies can have on my mood, energy level, and general sense of well being. As a result, I’ve been choosing to have vegetables whenever possible, even if I’d rather eat cake all day every day.
How to Make Roasted Carrot Salad:
The great thing about veggies is that they can take on fabulous flavors, depending on how you prepare them. Roasting them is one of my favorite methods. It brings out the sweetness, and it is almost effortless as you’ll see in my Roasted Carrot Salad. You just need olive oil, spices, and salt and pepper.
One of the best things about this salad is that it involves a little blue cheese. – I’m game for anything with a sprinkle of blue cheese. (If you prefer gorgonzola, goat cheese, or feta cheese, use one of those instead. This is an adaptable recipe.)
You’ll find that this salad is also easy to prepare. The main work is peeling, slicing, and roasting the carrots. The rest of the ingredients just get tossed together.
While this salad is best served as a side dish, you could toss in cubed or shredded chicken to make it a meal.
Whatever you do, I think you’ll love the combination of flavors as much as I do. The sweetness of the cranberries works beautifully with the tangy blue cheese, the peppery arugula adds a little bite, and the rich look and flavor of the roasted carrots complement everything.
Salad perfected, my friends!
If you liked this roasted carrot salad, give these a try:
- Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta Salad
- Snow Pea and Chicken Salad
- Radicchio and Blue Cheese Bread Salad
- Avocado Panzanella
Toss this up for Easter, at your next party, or when you want to fancy up a weeknight meal. It’s a sure winner!
Roasted Carrot Salad Recipe:
Roasted Carrot Salad
Ingredients
- 2 pounds carrots peeled and sliced diagonally
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 1 package (4 ounces) Danish blue cheese, crumbled
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 3 cups arugula
Instructions
- Begin by preheating your oven to 400 degrees F. Mix together the carrots, almonds, and garlic on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to coat and spread out in an even layer.
- Roast the carrots for about 30 minutes until they are soft and the edges start to turn brown. Stir them twice while roasting. Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature.
- Transfer the carrots to a large bowl. Drizzle with vinegar and honey. Toss to coat. Add the blue cheese, cranberries, and arugula. Mix gently to combine.
This salad is delicious. I eat salads as much as possible and this one quickly became my favorite. I would eat the entire salad in one sitting but then I wouldn’t be able to look forward to eating some the next day! 😁Thanks for the recipe!!!
I could eat this every week forever! Such a delicious combination of flavors. I only changed how I mixed ingredients…. Instead of stirring the raw carrots and oil on the baking sheet I did so in a large bowl to avoid spills and easier coat everything. When it came time to make the dressing, I mix the apple cider vinegar and honey first by itself and let the honey dissolve before adding in the greens and carrots.
i will make this as a side for my sister’s get together this weekend. this looks beautiful as well as delicious.
OMG … I made this and it is DIVINE!!! We literally sometimes have it for a light dinner it is SO good.
I made this for Easter today. Perfect! Many yhanks!
I have made a similar salad for years and this salad was fabulous too. It’s one of my favorites. My husband, who does not like carrots, ate two helpings last night. : )
Michael! I made this for Easter and my family loved it! It was a hit so thank you 😁
Yay! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!!
xo Michael
Oh my goodness- it sound delicious and it’s beautiful too! Making this soon ( Friday is grocery haul day). 🌺
Yay! Enjoy the recipe! <3
xo Michael
I adore this salad! I shared the recipe at work (with credit and link to your site) and it was a fan favorite! In fact, they’d like to include it in a calendar they’re printing for next year. Would you give permission to do so? If yes, how to credit you?
I made this salad for a small family Easter gathering and everyone loved it! Thanks for including a few cheese options too–a friend who doesn’t like blue cheese wants to make this recipe and when she saw feta is OK, she was happy.
I’ve been reading and enjoying your blog for years!
I’m so happy to read this, Emma! Thank you! (And great name – it’s my niece’s name too!)
xo Michael
Michael, I thought you did a FANTASTIC job this spring with your recipes and decoration ideas. I made this salad and it is SO beautiful! Thank your for the work you do–I love your blog. Happy Easter!
nice carrot salad, love the almonds and blue cheese, thank you
Michael, I love your site and all the wonderful ideas. I’d love sometime for you to show us how you store all your accessory items, dishes, serving pieces, linens, etc. Do you actually own all of them or just borrow them for your blog? I have quite a few things and would love to collect more but would like to have more ideas on how and where to store them all so they’d be more easily accessible. Thanks and HAPPY EASTER TO YOU!!
Perfect dish for my Passover seder next weekend! Beautiful appearance and can easily be assembled last minute. Thanks for sharing!
I made this tonight using feta instead of blue cheese. It was great! I made the mistake of sampling the carrots when they were warm; it took a lot of discipline not to just eat them all then!
Oh wow, this salad sounds sooooooo good! I’ll be trying this for sure. Thanks.
You bet! Enjoy, Vikki!
xo Michael
This looks delicious.
Thank you!!
xo Michael