An Exceptional Ginger Carrot Dressing
Blender dressings are great, in part, because they're fast. Everything into one container, puree, and you're set. This one is great - carrots, turmeric, coconut milk, shallot, and ginger come together into a dressing perfect for everything from green salads to grain salads, or as a brilliant finishing touch for sautéed, steamed, or simmered vegetables.
Blender dressings are great, in part, because they're fast. Everything into one container, puree, and you're set. This is a dressing I tend to make quite a lot in the fall, and then I just keep on going all the way through winter. It's an incredibly versatile blend of favorite ingredients like carrots, turmeric, coconut milk, ginger, and sesame. Also, lots of shallots. Which, as we know from last week, I rarely skimp on.
A Versatile Dressing & Ways to Use It
I use this dressing on green salads, grain salads, and as an A+ finishing touch over sautéed, steamed, or simmered vegetables. It works nicely in cold, summery noodle salads, and as a dipping sauce for crudité. This is all to say, it's great on many things. I'll list of some specific ways I've used it recently below!
Shredded Winter Salad: Add some winter citrus segments, to a bowl of shredded baby romaine, endives and radicchio, and toss with the ginger carrot dressing and lots of toasted sesame seeds.
Noodle salad: Toss soba noodles with it and then go from there, adding other favorite seasonal ingredients - roasted vegetables, toasted seaweed, tofu or whatever protein you like, etc.
Brussels Sprouts: Pan-fry some brussels sprouts along these lines, transfer to a serving bowl, and toss with a bit of the dressing.
Farro Salad: I did this as a side for Thanksgiving - combine farro, lots of toasted seeds, and plenty or arugula in a large bowl and toss with a generous amount of the ginger carrot dressing.
Summer / Early Autumn: tossed with green beans and topped with deeply roasted cherry tomatoes +toasted almonds
A number of you were curious about a winter miso chowder I posted a photo of to my instagram feed recently. I'm going to write it up next. Making it again tonight, and fine-tuning the ingredient amounts. It's definitely a hearty, winter warmer.
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An Exceptional Ginger Carrot Dressing
Sometimes I use 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne in place of the Serrano. Also, you can freeze any dressing you don't use in a few days.
- 1/3 cup full-fat coconut milk
- 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric, or more to taste
- 5 tablespoons peeled ginger, chopped to measure
- 3 medium farmers' market carrots, scrubbed
- 1/2 of a serrano pepper, stemmed, or to taste
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon miso (optional)
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1/4 cup / 60 ml brown rice vinegar
- 4 small shallots, peeled (or less if your shallots are strong)
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Puree the coconut milk, turmeric, ginger, carrots, pepper, olive oil, salt, toasted sesame oil, miso, maple syrup, brown rice vinegar, and shallots in a blender until very smooth.
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Taste, and adjust, if needed, with more salt or vinegar, or any other ingredient you think might need a little boost.
Makes about 2 cups.
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Comments
Is that a Zoe Dering vase I see? Excited to try this. Your recipes never fail me! Thank you for sharing all your creative goodness with the world.
Oh my – this dressing sounds amazing (so flavorful!), and love the idea of putting it on a noodle salad!
I made this with regular white rice vinegar and it was great. I also made it another time with pears instead of carrots and it was great as well!
I forgot to freeze this! How long do you think it is good for in the fridge – is a couple like 2 days or more like 10?
HS: I’d try to consume it w/in 4-5 days…
Just made this to put over green beans. I subbed honey for maple syrup…. It was excellent. Will definitely make again to put over other vegetables. Really lovely dressing.
I made this last night to serve over sliced cabbage and carrots as a “slaw”. My blender was not up to the task of making it “very smooth”, so we had a slightly chunky version…. I also used WAY less shallot than the recipe called for (probably 1/2 of one large shallot) and that was enough for us. I really loved the bright flavor and color, which evoked citrus without having any citrus ingredients. I think I’ll try the remainder on some grains. Thanks for a recipe to use up a lot of that ginger knob that often goes to waste!
Ooh, love this idea! Will have to give it a go. The richness from the coconut milk and heat from the spices is perfect for cold weather salads. Thank you! 🙂
Heidi, this looks great! I have all the ingredients on hand minus the brown rice vinegar. Would regular rice vinegar work just as well?
Yep, this dressing is exceptional. The flavor of this is out of this world, but also the perfect balance you achieved between salty, sweet, tangy, umami. Wow! I used two mini red onions instead of the shallots and it worked perfectly. Thank you Heidi for a dressing I will enjoy using all week on everything!
Looks gorgeous! I have done a similar dressing like this which includes avocado – adds a real body and depth, and the dressing ends up being more of the body of the dish with the salad ingredients the supporting star. Yummy!
I’m such a big fan of your recipes! I made this yesterday with much less oil, no shallots, and reduced fat coconut milk and it is delicious. I put it on a soba noodle salad with tempeh, roasted winter veggies, and peas. I can’t wait for lunch just to eat it again!
Thanks so much for your consistently beautiful and inspiring recipes.
This looks easy and delicious, and I can’t wait to try your soba noodle idea.
I tried this today-substituted the maple syrup w/ honey-it was GREAT! Thanks Heidi!
Love the taste of this dressing but mine turned out quite thick. What is the consistency supposed to be?
This is delicious! I didn’t see shallots listed at the bottom and didn’t have any so I just skipped them. It still turned out great!
How many non-farmers market carrots should be used in this recipe? In cups, please.
made it tonight- delicious. Different than my usual sauce/dressings. you’re awesome.
I find myself making the same dressings over and over again and really want to try some new ones, and this sounds perfect! Blenders make life so much easier- can’t wait to try this!
This sounds incredibly tasty. I was just experimenting with salad dressings and so glad to see a super creamy healthy one here.
Heidi, I’m so excited to try this dressing! Last year I had the luck of going to Departure in Portland, where I lingered over a wonderful avocado and carrot salad with a thinly sliced serranos and sourdough croutons as garnish. I think this dressing would be wonderful as I play with adapting that salad in my kitchen. Thank you for sharing!
This looks and sounds amazing! Big fan of creamy coconut and zingy ginger 😀 Thanks! x
I’m so excited about this recipe! The carrot ginger dressing served at Japanese restaurants has been a favorite of mine since I was a kid, I even use it as a dip for gyoza. Love your idea of mixing in with soba noodles and brussels sprouts, yum!
I made this tonight for a kale-based salad and loved some of the flavors, but the shallot was completely overwhelming! I used two medium-large shallots and otherwise followed the recipe pretty closely. My boyfriend and I were tearing up while eating it. Did you let it mellow for a few hours before using? Or were my shallots just really strong? I will have to dilute the leftovers with coconut milk, more carrot, olive oil?
I was reading this while the pasta for dinner was boiling, and decided to make it immediately for a dipping sauce for romaine leaves. It was fabulous!
Would another vinegar be acceptable if one doesn’t have brown rice vinegar?
I can’t wait to try this one. There are brussel sprouts in the fridge just waiting for this.
My immersion blender came with a “smootie cup” that I use for lots of small jobs. I bet any tumbler that is slightly larger than the blender would work.
Just whipped this up because I seem to have all the ingredients hanging around. Very delicious, just the right combo of tangy, sweet and rich tasting. It’s a keeper. Looks beautiful too.
Can’t wait to try it.. I wonder for how long it keeps in the fridge or if keeps well in the freezer.
HS: Hi Carmen – it does freeze nicely.
This looks very good. I too have an immersion blender with a fairly big blending cup. I think I’ll try it in that. Maybe do in batches. As for the sweets – I will try it with syrup and if it is too much, I’ll use honey or agave. This is a great receipe for the winter.
Can’t wait to try this. Dressings are what make each salad unique. I bet if you shredded the carrots a stick blender would work just fine!
Love your recipes! Could you please include measurements in grams? That would make it a lot easier to know how much ginger, carrots, etc. Thanks!
Looks delightful!! Unfortunately, of all the kitchen tools that I DO possess, a proper blender isn’t one of them. Spice grinder no good for liquids, food processor … too big? Or possible? Will a stick blender work – is a basic one strong enough?
I’m so excited to try this! I’m always on the lookout for new variations on this type of Asian dressing. I am really loving the coconut milk in this! Love the versatility too!
This looks great, may try tomorrow night for dinner. Just made a double batch (freezing one, baking one) of your gougeres tonight with some delicious Quebec cheddar from The Cheeseboard in Berkeley.
This dressing sounds good to me. I’m not sure about the maple syrup, though. Is that a must?
HS: Hi Shelly, I like this dressing a bit on the sweet side, also to counter any bitter notes from the turmeric – you could try skipping it though, or use a nice raw dark brown sugar, or honey.
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