Roasted Fennel & Carrot Salad

I love walking down the produce isle of the grocery store and just picking a new vegetables to try. I love finding new textures and flavors to use and ways to incorporate them into my diet. This may be a huge surprise to you but I have not always loved vegetables. I actually loathed them. It wasn't until I started on this journey and began incorporating them into my daily diet, I fell in love. And it's not because I some how magically changed my taste buds. It's because I let my body detox from the junk it thought it liked/needed, feed it with things I knew it actually needed and because our bodies are incredibly smart, it started craving the things that gave it exactly what it needed! And I haven't looked back sense!

I have found that having a wide variety of veggies in your diet and ways to cook them in you arsenal, is essential to maintaining a healthy, balanced life. I think many people see a vegetable like fennel and think "what the hell would I do with that?" But with a little trial and error and google, you are sure to be successful and have new options for getting in the much needed nutrients that vegetables provide. The more you do this, the more vegetable options you have, the less likely you will get bored and go back to your old eating habits that are causing you to fail at whatever goal you are trying to achieve. Paring it with good quality oils, seeds and other veggies, you now have a well balanced salad that you can eat on its own or as a side dish.

Eating real food doesn't have to be complicated and the thought that these uncommon veggies make it so, is far from the truth! Hope you enjoy this dish as much as I do! And will continue to enjoy as we continue on this veggie loving journey! 

Serving size: 2

Prep time: 5-7 minutes

Cook time: 25-30 minutes

Total time: 40 minutes 

Ingredients: 

• 2 whole fennel, sliced (white part only), save green for topping 
• 4-5 small to medium size carrots, sliced in to 3 inch strips 
• 1 red onion, sliced 
• Avocado Oil 
• Salt + Pepper 

Dressing 

• 1 tbsp. avocado oil 
• 1 tbsp. coconut aminos 
• 1/2 lemon juice 
• 1 tsp. paprika 
• 1/2 tsp. red pepper flake 
• 1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper 

Topping 

• 1 tbsp.pumpkin seeds
• 1 tbsp. hemp hearts
• 1 tbsp. sunflower seeds

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. 
2. Prep veggies by slicing the fennel, red onion and carrot. Lay them on a roasting sheet and coat with avocado oil. Then season with salt and pepper. 
3. Roast veggies for 20-25 minutes until tender and brown. If you like yours a little crispy turn it to broil for the last 2 minutes. Watch carefully not to burn. 
4. While veggies are roasting, make dressing and roast seeds. 
5. To make the dressing, mix avocado oil, coconut aminos and lemon juice until well blended and then add remaining ingredients (paprika, red pepper flake, pepper). Mix well. 
6. To roast seeds, place them in a cast-iron skillet on medium-low heat. Roast them for 5-7 minutes and stir constantly until they are fragrant and roasted. 
7. Place roasted veggies in a bowl and toss with dressing until evenly coated. Top with roasted seeds and the green of the fennel plant. 

Peace and Clean Eats, 

Kaylee