Carrot-Beet Salad

This salad saves me on days when I know in my bones that I should eat something other than bread and cheese for all three meals, but it’s too cold/rainy/hard to motivate to leave the house and get lettuce and make what I guess I think of as a “real salad.” I almost always have carrots and beets rolling around in my refrigerator crisper drawer, but you can recreate this with just about any root vegetables (parsnips would be especially good!) Best of all, this comes together in just a couple of minutes, before you give up and go back to telling yourself that crackers are a real meal.

Makes 2 lunch-sized servings

4 carrots, peeled

1 raw beet, peeled (peel the beet over the sink so you can quickly wash your hands and avoid fuchsia hand syndrome)

1 tsp kosher salt

1 TBS chopped parsley, cilantro or mint

1/4 cup vinaigrette dressing (see note)

Shred the carrots and beet with a hand-held grater or in a food processor with the grating disc. Transfer the vegetables to a bowl and season with salt. Toss with the parsley (or whatever herb you have on-hand) and vinaigrette. Feel free to add a handful of nuts; I like pistachios, walnuts and pecans for this.

Serve immediately, or refrigerate undressed up to two days.  

Note: You can use any basic vinaigrette here; I go for two parts acid (lemon juice, orange juice, apple cider vinegar) to one part olive oil, seasoned with a little salt and pepper and sweetened with a spoonful of honey.