Honey Roasted Beet and Carrot Salad

When we first got married, there was a standing death threat hanging over Eric's head (and it was a good thing): "eat your vegetables, or else". That's right, "or else" and everyone knows what that means. Growing up, Eric never really had to eat veggies and living on his own provided no external cause for him to change. Turns out the external change was more of an internal change that he had to make before anyone could really push him into loving veggies. Turns out getting into food and cooking as really forced this on him as nearly everything exposes both of us to new foods and new ways of making food. Take mixing beets and carrots. If you'd have asked Eric five years ago what a beet and carrot was like, he would probably have answered "uhm, kinda orange and red-ish? Aren't beets the red ones?" He may or may not have gotten the color of the beets right. Now, he's scarfing things like this honey roasted beet and carrot salad and looking for more. Charisse came across this one and decided that she wanted to go for it, creating one of our best tasting dishes yet. The beets are sweet and crunchy but without being candyish. The carrots really carry the honey flavor. You could even dress it up a bit and serve it as a main course. Yup, it's safe to say that Eric's growing love of veggies has really helped our marriage stay strong. Charisse hasn't had to threaten him about eating it in a long, long time. Doing the laundry when it's his day? "ERIC!!"

Printable Recipe

Honey Roasted Beet and Carrot Salad
What You Will Need

1 bunch of beets (peeled and diced)
1 or 2 bunches of carrots (peeled and diced)
1/2 red onion (thinly sliced)
3 Tbs honey
3 Tbs plus 1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper
a handful of fresh basil
1 clove garlic
the juice of 1 lemon
2 Tbs mayo

Preheat oven to 400*

In a large bowl whisk 2 Tbs of honey with 3 Tbs oil and salt and pepper. Add the diced beets and carrots and toss to coat. Place beets and carrots on a jelly roll tray and roast until easily pierced with a fork but not mushy, about 20-30 minutes, let cool completely.

In the meantime make dressing, In a small food processor, puree the garlic, half of the basil, lemon juice, mayo and honey, slowly whisk in the olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.

Once the beets and carrots are cooled, Toss with sliced onions and the rest of the fresh basil, which you could tear or slice up. Drizzle dressing over salad and serve.

Adapted from http://fortheloveofyum.wordpress.com/