Carrot-Ginger Sunshine Vinaigrette

Yield: 10–12 oz

Author: Chef Katie Mae

Ingredients:

3 medium carrots, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 navel orange, zested and juiced
5 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon peanut or almond butter (optional)

Directions:

Place the carrot in a sauté pan over medium-high heat, add enough water to almost cover the carrots. Add the lid and let simmer until the carrots are soft, about 5 minutes.
While the carrots cook, add the remaining ingredients (orange zest and juice, rice vinegar, water, ginger and the optional nut butter to a blender.
When the carrot slices are tender, transfer them to the blender. Blend until you have a creamy dressing.

Chef's Note:

If you want to avoid nuts in this recipe, you can either replace the nut butter with a tablespoon of tahini or white beans, or two tablespoons of hemp seeds. You could also simply leave the nut butter out with no replacement—but in the case, you may want to use a bit less vinegar, depending on your taste preferences.

The cooked carrots cause this to initially be a warm dressing, so it’s best to chill the dressing in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use it. However, if you don’t have time to chill the dressing, it will cool pretty quickly when you toss it with your fresh, cooler salad fixings.

Carrot-Ginger Sunshine Vinaigrette