Carrot, orange and smoked almond salad

Once upon time we had Easter holidays!  Don't they seem forever ago!  On a quiet day I made a fancy lunch salad from the supermarket magazine.  Most lunches I have a sandwich and fruit.  It is fairly plain but I try to add in more vegies when I can.  This was the sort of salad to get more vegies into me.  It didn't take long to put together but often I don't even have that much time and energy.

I loved this salad because it is the sort of salad that can be altered to what is about the house and use up bits and pieces.  I made quite a few changes.  I don't usually buy honey roasted cashews which the Coles magazine suggested.  Instead I used smoked almonds, which we sometimes buy.  In fact this salad can be made with any variety of salad leaves, nuts, dried fruit, fresh fruit, fresh vegetable and dressing.

I didn't expect Sylvia to eat the salad but was pleased she was happy to eat some carrot curls and orange wedges as I prepared the salad.  I heated a Linda McCartney sausage roll to eat with the salad but the salad was very filling and I didn't eat much of the sausage roll.  I really loved the salad for a nice change at lunch.  It is also very pretty so I would definitely keep it in mind as something to upscale for taking along to a potluck to share and impress.

Similarly impressive leaf, nut and fruit salads on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
Avocado, pear and pecan salad (gf)
Cauliflower, rocket, pine nut and currant salad (gf, v)
Green apple and white chocolate salad (gf)
Pumpkin, pomegranate and orange salad with spiced walnuts (gf, v)
Spinach salad with spiced nuts and cranberries (gf, v)
Strawberry avocado and walnut salad with a chocolate vinaigrette (gf, v)

Carrot, orange and smoked almond salad  
Adapted from Coles Magazine, April 2020
Serves 1-2 as lunch

1 handful of rocket (about 60g)
1 carrot
1 orange
1-2 dried nectarines, diced
1-2 tbsp smoked almonds
I small spring onion, finely sliced
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley

Dressing:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp orange juice
1 tsp honey
1 tsp seeded mustard
seasoning

Peel carrot and then use the vegie peeler to peel long ribbons of carrot to roll into curls.  Peel orange and cut into wedges.  Scatter the rocket on a small salad platter.  Arrange wedges and carrot curls among leaves.  Scatter with dried nectarine pieces.  Shake all dressing ingredients in a jar to mix (it can take a bit of shaking and patience for the honey to dissolve).  Check seasoning and adjust.  Drizzle dressing over salad.  Sprinkle with smoked almonds, spring onion slices and chopped parsley.  Eat fresh.

If you wanted to take it along to a shared meal, I would suggest keeping the dressing, and the nuts aside, preparing the rest of the salad and covering with some sort of wrap, then putting together just before serving.

On the stereo:
The Songbook Collection: Burt Bacharach and Hal David