My Tahini Curried Carrot Salad is a quick and easy recipe - delicious for lunch, dinner or heck, even breakfast! The sweet crunchy flavor of matchstick carrots mingles with the bitter-creamy tahini dressing, plump raisins, crunchy pumpkin seeds and spicy-savory Muchi Curry.
Give this refreshing creamy-crunch salad a try! And raisin-haters don't fret, I have a few sub-ingredients for you. My recipe...
Salad for One. I planned and plotted to make this salad for myself, for lunch, during my workday - while my husband was out of the house. Why the secrecy, you ask? Well at first glance, this recipe contains all things my husband hates: carrots, raisins and curry. Gosh, sometimes it feels like I'm the vegan, yet less picky than he is. Ha!
I whipped up the salad and gave it a taste. Bliss! I loved it. Crunchy, cool, creamy, spicy and fragrant.
..Since I was dining alone, I had the entire salad bowl to myself. Dive in Kathy! But mid each zesty-yummy bite, I kept thinking: "I have to get my husband to try this!" Sometimes even foods you think you despise can taste good when presented in a new light. Like my Green Bean Fries.
..and with each new ingredient you taste - you might hate it or love it, but at least you tried it!
I never want to stop trying new and exotic foods and finding new favorites like: rambutan, cherimoya, nutritional yeast, grade B maple syrup or kombucha.
Raisin-phobic? I know some people can't get past raisins - raisin haters are incorrigible (like Garfield). Try substituting raisins with chopped dates, dried cranberries, juicy golden (less scary) raisins. Or simply add in fresh chopped fruit like apples, citrus, canned mandarins or pears.
Muchi Curry...
I used a Muchi Curry from Whole Foods. It has a musty, spicy, warm flavor. When buying spices, I try not to skimp on quality - it can make or break my dish. A good spice is a useful 'recipe investment'. One bottle goes a long way - endless recipe possibilities!
I used a basic organic tahini - ground sesame seeds. It has a 'watery peanut butter' texture. The maple syrup in this dish balances out the slightly bitter tahini taste. Tahini is a great way to achieve creamy, yet vegan, salads. Also try my Seedy Tahini Cole Slaw.
Side Salad -> Meal! Add pan-fried or baked tofu (a citrus or maple sweet marinade would be nice) to this salad to make it a meal. You could also toss in walnuts, white beans or garbanzo beans to add more protein and fiber. Citrus orange slices or mandarins would also be a fun toss-in to this recipe.
I added Sticky Ginger-Maple Tofu Cubes to make this snazzy lunch:
..the ginger tofu cubes were sauteed in olive oil and marinated with powdered ginger, lemon juice, maple syrup and a touch of sea salt.
Now onto the recipe!
Easy Tahini Curried Carrot Salad
vegan, makes 5 cups
10 ounces julienne cut/matchstick carrots
1 cup organic Thompson Raisins
¼ cup roasted pumpkin seeds
⅓ cup tahini
1-2 tablespoon Muchi Curry powder
¼ cup lemon juice
2 tablespoon maple syrup
¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
Optional:
½ teaspoon garlic powder
dash of cayenne (for extra spicy salad)
dash of sea salt on top
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast (or sprinkled over top)
Directions:
1. In a small bowl, combine the tahini, lemon juice, maple syrup, curry powder, black pepper, salt and garlic powder. Whisk well.
2. In a large mixing bowl add the carrots, raisins and pumpkin seeds.
3. Pour the dressing mixture over the carrot mixture. Toss well until all the ingredients are well coated. Pour into serving bowl to set.
4. Allow to marinate in the fridge for at least an hour. Serve chilled.
K says
Looks delicious. Where do you get or where do you buy matchstick carrots? Seems like it would be fussy to cut with a kitchen knife, but my experience is that pre-cut or "mini" carrots don't have much flavor.
K says
Looks delicious. Where do you get or where do you buy matchstick carrots? Seems like it would be fussy to cut with a kitchen knife, but my experience is that pre-cut or "mini" carrots don't have much flavor.
GeLiGeLu says
Any idea how you can make it more creamy? The bitterness of the sesame came through even with two tablespoons of honey (instead of maple) and it was rather thick. I had to add some water to make it more liquid to cover the vegetables ( I had it with Broccoli + chick peas + carrots + raisins)
deathlightdb says
I know this is an old comment, but just in case anyone else has the same issue... you should be careful of what brand of tahini you buy. Many tahinis are overly bitter, but not all. Try a couple more brands of tahini.
23time says
I'd add some whole wheat bowtie pasta and some grilled chicken and avocados.
angelofdev says
How long can it keep for in the fridge?
Katia says
This looks spectacular! Love the curry idea. Do you think I could substitute it with a sweet or maharajah curry, or do you recommend only doing this with the muchi curry?
Stephanie says
This is awesome!! Thank you! I did dried currants instead of raisins and it was fantastic!
Rebecca says
This. Is. Amazing. AMAZING! It tastes exactly like all the best parts of the Whole Foods prepared foods counter's Vegan Chick'n Curry Salad. I have an embarrassing obsession with that stuff, but this recipe just gave me the power to replicate that flavor in my own home. I am so excited! And I love that it is so healthy. The tahini-based sauce is brilliant, and so much more nutritious than a veganaise-based sauce (like I assume the Whole Foods Vegan Chick'n Curry Salad is). I'm already plotting making this again, but chopping up some seitan to add to the mix to further replicate the chick'n salad from Whole Foods. Thanks for creating/sharing this recipe!
Shari Weiner says
Wow, this is delicious! I added some fresh broccoli cut in bite-sized pieces. It added beautiful color and boosted the nutrition profile. This is definitely a new favorite potluck dish. Thank you!
Ilona Perry says
This is so amazing!! I made it with diced dates, and didn't have any pumpkin seeds unfortunately but this was so delicious! My new favorite way to eat carrots!!
Marcia says
This sounds yummy! I took your suggestion and picked up some Muchi Curry at WF. You are sooo right! It is one of the most flavorful curry's I've ever tried, thank you! Can't wait to make this salad so I can use it again!
Dana says
Oh my!!! I've been using the curry tahini sauce on everything! I mixed some wild rice into the salad and stuffed it into acorn squash. Thanks soooo much for sharing!
Kathy Patalsky says
Ur comment just made me crave it now!!!! 🙂
mama2desi says
Absolutely amazing!!! I just made this dish and it is an excellent snack, lunch, and/or dinner!! I added cranberry and apple to mine and it is divine!! The only issue I had was I had to add more lemon juice b/c the sauce was super thick and wouldn't blend well with everything...but the end result is a delcious dish the whole family will love!
Europanda says
Yummy. Found it t too sweet. Will do it again, but will much less OR no maple syrup 🙂
Thanks....learned how to julienne carrots. Not gracefully, that's for sure.
Just found your website, this is the first recipe I have tried, look forward to trying more.
Magma_w says
Great idea, I personally don't like carrot salad but with tahini it actually looks very appetizing. I have to try it that way.
Allyson says
I made this recipe all summer long last year and loved it! Recently I've started craving this dish again but cannot find muchi curry powder for the life of me in any NYC store 🙁 Since you're local Kathy, have you found this problem? If not, where are you finding it? All of the Whole Foods seem to not be carrying it anymore.
Kathy Patalsky says
Weird! I'm actually in LA for now, but I need to go investigate the wfs here now!!
Marcia says
Just purchased some two weeks ago at the WF's around the corner from us. We're in Henderson, NV.
Sara says
I'll be making this for dinner next week! It looks and sounds incredible. <3
Kristinrac says
Dang girl! This looks awesome, I tried a carrot and raisin salad and hated it! But I most definitely have to give this a try, I might use mandarin oranges in it. I am also so happy I tried kombucha tea.. Im in love 🙂 I also really want to try Jerusalem artichoke syrup, kind of like coconut syrup- super yummy. I love exploring and trying new things down the isles of whole foods haha 🙂
Tina says
where has your blog been all my life?