⁠Food Fridays: Grilled Carrot Arugula Salad with Fig, Goat Cheese and Avocado ⁠

Spring has sprung! Get a head start on summer recipes and brighten up your dinner spread with this Grilled Carrot Arugula Salad. If you’re not quite ready to grill yet – try roasting the carrots for ease and convenience. ⁠
⁠
Layered with walnuts, figs, goat cheese, and avocado – this isn’t your average salad. The dressing is made with creamy tahini, garlic, lemon juice and maple syrup. Feel free to add in any mix-ins you like, add a can of chickpeas or change up the base of your salad with whatever you have available. ⁠
⁠
As a bonus, this salad is super versatile and will go with whatever protein and other sides are on the menu. ⁠
⁠
Try it out this weekend!⁠

Ingredients

For the carrots:

  • 4 large carrots, cut in half vertically and stems/tops removed
  • 1 tablespoon avocado oil
  • Freshly ground salt and pepper

For the salad:

  • 5 ounces of baby arugula
  • ¾ cup dried fig halves
  • 1/3 cup walnuts halves and pieces
  • 1/3 cup goat cheese crumbles
  • 1 avocado, sliced

Maple Tahini Dressing:

  • ¼ cup drippy tahini (I always use Soom Tahini)
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1-2 teaspoons pure maple syrup
  • ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
  • 2-3 tablespoons warm water, to thin out a bit
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

  1. Add vertically cut carrots to a large bowl or a platter and drizzle with avocado oil then season with freshly ground salt and pepper. Use tongs or clean hands to coat the carrots with the oil.
  2. Preheat the grill to medium high heat (about 400 degrees F) and grill the carrots for 15-25 minutes total or until slightly tender, flipping halfway through. Please note, if you don’t want to grill your carrots, you can roast them at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes or until tender on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
  3. Toast walnuts in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally until toasted and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Set aside
  4. While the carrots are cooking you can make your dressing: in a medium bowl, whisk together the tahini, lemon juice, maple syrup, dijon, garlic powder, water (1 tablespoon at a time until you reach your desired consistency) and salt and pepper. Set aside.
  5. Add arugula to a large platter (or you can keep it in a large bowl) and then layer with the toppings: grilled carrots, dried fig halves, toasted walnuts, goat cheese crumbles and avocado slices.
  6. Drizzle tahini dressing all over the top and season with freshly ground salt and pepper. Divide into bowls and enjoy! Salad keeps well for 2-4 days. Serves 4 as a main and 6 as a side salad.

Recipe by Ambitious Kitchen