Raw Golden Beet, Jicama, and Carrot Salad

Now I have to be honest about this recipe:  I'm the only person in my immediate family who actually likes this salad.  George and Aidan will eat it, but Avery won't give it a second look.  Then again, she's picky about her vegetables; she'll eat broccoli, carrots, salad with lemon dill dressing, and cauliflower.  You know, maybe that's not such a short list of vegetables for a kid.  It's all relative.

A second confession: I stole this recipe from a friend.  Even though I changed it just enough to call it my own, the credit for this culinary creation goes to Amy, The Meaty Bohemian.

A third confession: Although I loved the version of this salad that Amy made when I invited myself and my children over to her house for dinner, she added parsley.  While I could never say this to her face while sitting at her table, I hate parsley.  It's probably the only green food I don't like.  Sorry Amy.  Love you!  And obviously I loved the salad despite the parsley!

I made a double batch of this salad last Saturday when we went to our family's house for dinner.  Sandi asked for the recipe before she even took a bite, and her father-in-law sweetly asked me to tell him about this salad while we were eating.  I love talking about food, especially while eating it.  And fortunately, since there was no parsley in my salad, I didn't have any flecks of green in my teeth while waxing on about golden beets!  (By the way, I buy my golden beets from the farmer's market, but I've seen them at Whole Foods and Sprouts.)



Raw Golden Beet, Jicama, and Carrot Salad
(aka Radioactive Salad, because this salad is radiant!)

Salad:
1 bunch golden beets, trimmed, peeled, and grated
1 jicama, peeled and grated
5 medium carrots, scrubbed and grated

Dressing:
1/2 cup red wine vinegar (or vinegar of your choice)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
A handful of fresh, chopped herbs (You can use parsley if you want to, but I used what I had growing in my garden: cilantro, mint, thyme, and dill.  The cilantro and thyme are flowering, so I used the flowers too!)

Mix the grated vegetables with the dressing.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.  Allow the salad to marinate for several hours if possible.  Keeps for several days - and keeps getting better!

Since I'm on an honest streak, I'll share a "behind the scenes" photo:



Yep.  That's me, in my sweaty gym clothes, standing on the counter in my messy kitchen, taking a picture of my salad.  Just keeping it real.

On a slight tangent,  the "Forks Over Knives" diet came up at family dinner the other night.  My brother-in-law is following it right now and lost 12 pounds as a result.  And I thought he was already a bean pole!  (Just kidding, Mark.  Kind of.)

Anyways, I told him that my diet is virtually the same as the FOK diet, with the exception of meat (and eggs and fat).  My husband laughed about my assertion, but I maintain my position.  The FOK diet is a plant based diet, free of processed foods, refined carbohydrates, and of course, animal products.  The diet promotes whole foods, reduces inflammation, results in weight loss, and has turned people's lives around for the better . . . just like the Paleo diet!

While I realize the difference between the two diets is meaty (and fat), I feel both diets are on parallel tracks.  I'm curious to hear what you think.  We can chat in the comments, where it doesn't matter if you have parsley stuck to your teeth.  No one will notice.