Another joy of our support group meetings is having visitors join us from time to time. One of our group’s founding families, the Padovan-Hickman family, has a farm called Biota. DeLaura and Steve, and daughters, Tara and Maren, raise chickens, goats, and organic vegetables. A few months ago, they hosted an intern, Sophia Curran, from New York City. Sophia had a marvelous time while she was on the farm, even witnessing the birth of twin goats at Biota. (Read more on Sophia and see photos of the baby goats.)
Her experience was a rich and enjoyable one, so much so that she will be returning to Biota later this month. When she was here before, Sophia shared her lovely carrot salad dressing with the Padovan-Hickman family. They ate it almost daily, on “just about everything” they said. DeLaura is the manager of our outstanding Farmers’ Market (America’s Favorite Farmers’ Market for 2010 in the Boutique Category!) and she shared the recipe in the market’s May newsletter.
With Sophia’s permission, I’m sharing it with all of you. I enjoy Sophia’s mildly sweet, very pleasant Super Carrot Dressing over a green salad, a cold salad (like tuna salad, which is shown in the photo), or even as a healthy topping for a baked Russet or sweet potato—“orange-on-orange” for the latter. I’m sharing this today over at Gluten-Free Wednesdays at Linda’s (The Gluten-Free Homemaker). Linda’s challenge this month is for everyone to Create A Gluten-Free Salad. Entries may include dressings as well. Hope you’ll share your creations in that category this month each Wednesday over at Linda’s. With the heat of summer here, I can never get enough cool and refreshing new salads. Enjoy!
Sophia's Super Carrot Dressing
Recipe from Sophia Curran. Originally published in King George Farmers’ Market newsletter
Ingredients
- 4-5 carrots
- 1 medium onion
- ½ cup olive oil (or slightly more if needed)
- Gluten-free tamari (or gluten-free soy) sauce, about 1-2 teaspoons, to taste
- Balsamic vinegar, splash (optional)
- Water, if needed (small amount)
Instructions
- Blend first three ingredients in food processor.
- Add tamari sauce (or soy sauce) to taste. Blend again.
- If desired and/or needed, a splash of balsamic vinegar and some water may be added for tang and thinning, respectively. Blend again until smooth.
- Use as a topping for green salad, other cold salads, cooked greens, or whatever else appeals. Will keep several days in the refrigerator.
Notes
The amount of moisture in the carrots and onion will determine how much additional liquid you will need to add, if any. My food processor is ancient and does not chop or blend nearly as well as it should. Plus my carrots and onion were not super fresh or juicy, so I had to add additional liquid in the form of olive oil and water. For topping my tuna salad, the thicker blend worked fine. For a green salad, I’d suggest a thinner version of this salad dressing.
Kim (Cook IT Allergy Free) says
June 8, 2011 at 5:09 pmOh my! This dressing looks amazing! I can think of a gazillion things to put it on! I will make this one tonight and report back. I was thinking it would also be a perfect dipping sauce for my chicken meatballs that I am making for dinner. I think the thicker version would be great for those! My kids eat the meatballs on a toothpick so dipping in this will be great! 😉 Thank you for sharing Sophia and the sweet story about the birth of the goats!
xo
k
Shirley says
June 9, 2011 at 7:50 pmHi Kim–I hope the dressing/dipping sauce turned out well for sure. Dipping chicken meatballs into it sounds awfully tasty!So glad you enjoyed the goat tale. Baby goats are awfully hard to resist I think! 😉
xoxo,
Shirley
Linda says
June 8, 2011 at 10:17 pmThis looks like a tasty and healthy dressing. I’m sure it would go well on top of many things. My family is not very adventuresome when it comes to salad dressing, but I am. That just means I get more for myself. 🙂 Tell Sophia thanks for sharing her recipe with us.
Shirley says
June 9, 2011 at 9:07 pmHi Linda–My taste in salad dressings has changed greatly over the years. I used to eat the same couple over and over, but then when I started reading labels, I wanted only ones with very few and healthier ingredients. Lately, I’ve enjoyed making my own with just a few ingredients. I think the salad tastes better and I feel like I’m making a much better choice. Hope you enjoy this one! I’ll definitely tell Sophia thanks as she’ll be joining us for our June meeting. 🙂
Shirley
Heather @Gluten-Free Cat says
June 9, 2011 at 1:00 amOooh, what a lovely dressing! I’m thinking it would be delicious on a cold pasta salad. Refreshing on a hot summer night. How wonderful that Sophia is now a star on your blog!
Shirley says
June 9, 2011 at 9:08 pmHi Heather–I definitely like your idea of using this dressing to top cold pasta salad. That would make for a delicious and colorful meal. 🙂 Sophia is a sweetie; I’m happy to feature her here. 😉
Shirley
Morri says
June 9, 2011 at 8:13 amOh wow, what an awesome way to incorporate even MORE veggie goodness!
I tried the same concept, only with petite peas, a pinch of salt, and <1/2 c. coconut milk. It was think, and a great topping to black sweet rice and roasted butternut squash.
I'll definitely give this a go.
Shirley says
June 9, 2011 at 9:42 pmHi Morri–Welcome to gfe! 🙂 I am crazy about peas and coconut milk so I will definitely be trying your suggestion. Often we’ll have some peas leftover from dinner. That would be a great way to use them–thanks! I bet there are tons of possibilities with the veggies as salad dressing idea. 😉
Enjoy!
Shirley
glutenfreeforgood says
June 9, 2011 at 12:31 pmI tend to stick with my “go-to” dressing of EVOO, honey, mustard and apple cider vinegar and this carrot dressing recipe has inspired me to get out of my rut! I’ve never seen carrots used IN the dressing, but I like the idea of the sweetness. Oh, and those baby goats are SO cute. Love the names. Ralph for a baby goat?! That cracks me up. =)
What a great experience for Sophia!
Peace, love and baby goats (and carrot dressing)!
Melissa
Shirley says
June 9, 2011 at 10:55 pmHi Melissa–Your “go-to” dressing sounds wonderful. I think any homemade dressings that use few, real ingredients are a great choice. I like healthy dressings that just accent my salad a little bit. 🙂
The Padovan-Hickman family has raised so many baby goats over the years that they probably ran out of conventional names long ago. Although I must admit, I’m not entirely sure they ever used truly conventional names. 😉
Sophia is a dear. She reminds me of Ali Segersten.
xo,
Shirley
Alisa Fleming says
June 9, 2011 at 6:05 pmHow very cool for Sophia. If I knew then what I know now, that is exactly the internship I would have sought out. The ones in finance definitely helped pay for those college loans, but what an enriching experience to get to work the land like that. Now I’m so much of a city dweller, it’s pathetic!
I love using carrots in salad dressing though, and will certainly trial Sophia’s! Thanks Shirley. You’re always great at spreading the gf love 🙂
Shirley says
June 9, 2011 at 11:50 pmHi Alisa–The Padovan-Hickman family has a lot of interns and students come through. Their farm is are also “off the grid.” In July, they’ll have a celiac foreign exchange student. She’ll be here for our meeting, too. 🙂
How cool that you’ve actually used carrots in salad dressing before. I don’t think most folks have. I just had baked carrot fries this evening, a recipe from Gluten-Free Gigi, this evening. So yummy. Spread the carrot love!
Shirley
Tina @madame gluten-free vegetarian says
June 9, 2011 at 6:45 pmHi Shirley!
I have never had a dressing made with carrots before — it sounds delicious! What a wonderful way to get more carrots (and Vitamin A) into your life. The baby goats are too cute. 🙂 Tina.
Shirley says
June 9, 2011 at 11:51 pmHi Tina–I’d never had a dressing made with carrots either, but I like the taste and the benefits. 🙂 Baby goats are pretty irresistible! 😉
Shirley
Carol, Simply...Gluten-free says
June 9, 2011 at 7:15 pmWhat a lovely and simple dressing! And such a great way to sneak in even more veggies! Love it and must try it!
xo,
c
Shirley says
June 9, 2011 at 11:53 pmHi Carol–Yes, “sneak” in the veggies and who can resist the color appeal in this dressing? 😉
xo,
Shirley
Maggie says
June 9, 2011 at 7:56 pmYum Shirley! This is an amazing salad dressing! Thank you Sophia. I can’t wait to try, I am always up for a new dressing recipe. And Shirley, I think you’ve earned a new food processor 🙂 xo
Shirley says
June 9, 2011 at 11:56 pmMaggie–I know I’ve earned a new food processor! LOL Still, I keep putting buying one off.
Hope you like Sophia’s super carrot dressing! FYI–Use average sized carrots, not monsters like I used. 😉
xo,
Shirley
Nancy @SensitivePantry says
June 10, 2011 at 7:10 amShirley, I have a bunch of large organic carrots that will be perfect for this! Thanks for sharing.
Shirley says
June 12, 2011 at 10:18 pmHi Nancy–I hope your carrot dressing turns out splendidly. 🙂 You may have to adjust the liquid ingredients for large carrots.
Shirley
InTolerantChef says
June 10, 2011 at 9:07 amwhat a lovely dressing and so simple too!
Shirley says
June 12, 2011 at 10:19 pmThanks, InTolerantChef! I do love simple, and lovely is a requirement. 😉
Enjoy!
Shirley
Pat @ Elegantly, Gluten-Free says
June 11, 2011 at 12:08 amLooks like it will taste as good as it looks — I must try this right away. Thanks, Shirley!
Shirley says
June 12, 2011 at 10:19 pmHi Pat–Thanks for taking the time to comment, dear. 🙂 I hope you enjoy this one!
Shirley
Sophie says
June 11, 2011 at 6:11 pmWhat a cool girl! What a lovely & tasty carrot dressing!
A great post, dear Shirley! 🙂
Shirley says
June 12, 2011 at 10:22 pmSophie–If you make this one, it can then become Sophie’s Super Carrot Dressing! 😉 Sorry, just had to say it. LOL Seriously, I hope you enjoy it dear. 🙂
xo,
Shirley
Alta says
July 11, 2011 at 1:25 pmI love these veggie-based dressings! I made a zucchini dressing recently that was so tasty and healthy too! Great post.
Shirley says
July 14, 2011 at 12:46 pmHI Alta–Thanks! I hope you’ll share the zucchini dressing. I’d love to try it! 🙂 Soon everyone who gardens will have a glut of zucchini and be thanking their lucky stars for another way to use zucchini! 😉
Shirley