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Cucumber Carrot Salad with Honey Lime Vinaigrette

A refreshing, healthy and easy-to-make side dish that pairs with a variety of foods!
Prep Time20 minutes
Total Time20 minutes
Course: Salad
Cuisine: American
Keyword: easy, quick, vegetarian
Servings: 4
Author: Ashlen Leonard

Ingredients

  • 2 cups carrots about 1-2 large carrots
  • 2 cups cucumbers about 1 large cucumber
  • ½ cup fresh Italian parsley roughly chopped
  • ½ cup raw cashews chopped

Honey Lime Vinaigrette

  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 1 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1 tbsp lime juice
  • ½ tbsp honey
  • 2 cloves garlic crushed
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • Pinch of black pepper

Instructions

  • In a glass measuring cup, add the olive oil, rice vinegar, lime juice, honey, garlic cloves, salt and pepper. Stir well and set this aside.
  • Using a vegetable peeler, peel the outer layer of the carrot and discard. Then carefully peel the carrot into thinly sliced pieces. You can also use the slicer side of a box grater. It helps to rotate the carrot every couple of peels.
  • Use the same method to peel the cucumber into thin slices, but don't peel the outer layer of the cucumber. Avoid cutting into the seeds, as this will add a lot of liquid to the salad. Discard the cucumber seeds.
  • Place the carrot and cucumber ribbons in a large bowl. Add the roughly chopped parsley and the chopped cashews on top.
  • Pour half of the dressing over the vegetables and mix well. Add more if desired. Season with extra salt and pepper if needed and serve immediately.

Notes

Substitutions and add-ins

  • Pumpkin seeds
    • Instead of raw cashews as a crunchy element, you can use pumpkin seeds.
  • White or black sesame seeds
    • Similarly, add a sprinkle of white or black sesame seeds for extra flavour and texture.
  • Green onions
    • For extra flavour that’s not too overpowering, add some chopped green onions into the salad.
  • Red onion
    • If you’re looking for a stronger onion taste, adding some chopped red onion will do the trick!
  • Sesame oil
    • To achieve an Asian inspired flavour of dressing, substitute sesame oil for ½ of the olive oil.
  • Lemon juice
    • For similar zesty flavour, you can use lemon juice instead of lime juice in the dressing.
  • Apple cider vinegar
    • Instead of rice vinegar, feel free to use apple cider vinegar in equal parts.
  • Maple syrup
    • If you prefer maple syrup over honey, you can use this as the sweetener for the dressing.
 

Dietary considerations

  • This salad is already gluten-free, dairy-free and vegetarian.
  • Nut free: omit the cashews and use pumpkin or sesame seeds instead
  • Vegan: use maple syrup instead of honey as the sweetener in the dressing