Name: Carrot and Smoked Salmon Salad
Total time: PLACEHOLDER
Ingredients: 2 pounds carrots with greens attached, divided, ¼ cup greens chopped; 5 tablespoons cider vinegar , divided; 1 tablespoon sugar; ⅛ teaspoon plus ¾ teaspoon table salt , divided; ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil , divided; ¼ teaspoon pepper; 1 red grapefruit; 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill leaves; 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard; 2 heads Belgian endive (4 ounces each), halved, cored, and sliced ½ inch thick; 8 ounces smoked salmon

Why This Recipe Works

In this dinner salad, we use all of the carrot—greens and root—for a beautifully bright orange and green dish. To make it a filling meal, we also add silky, rich smoked salmon, which happens to also be a lovely shade of orange. First, we chose carrots with their greens attached because they taste sweeter than bagged carrots, and the feathery greens are fresh and slightly bitter like parsley. We pickled some of the carrots, shaved into ribbons, for a sweet and punchy bite. We roasted the remaining carrots, keeping the baking sheet close to the heat source for good browning. Tossing the roasted carrots with a Dijon-dill vinaigrette while slightly warm allowed them to absorb a lot of flavor. Finally, we added raw endive for its crisp bite and color contrast and grapefruit for sweet-tart flavor. To finish, we chopped up the carrot greens and tossed them into the salad.

Before You Begin

Parsley can be substituted for the carrot greens. You should have about 1½ pounds of carrots after trimming the carrot greens.

Instructions

Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Peel and shave 4 ounces carrots into thin ribbons with vegetable peeler; set aside. Peel and slice remaining carrots on bias ¼ inch thick; set aside.

Microwave ¼ cup vinegar, sugar, and ⅛ teaspoon salt in medium bowl until simmering, 1 to 2 minutes. Add shaved carrots and stir to combine. Let sit, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes. (Drained pickled carrots can be refrigerated for up to 5 days.)

Toss sliced carrots, 1 tablespoon oil, pepper, and ½ teaspoon salt together in bowl to coat. Spread carrots in single layer on rimmed baking sheet, cut side down. Roast until tender and bottoms are well browned, 15 to 25 minutes. Let cool slightly, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut away peel and pith from grapefruit. Quarter grapefruit, then slice crosswise into ¼-inch-thick pieces.

Whisk dill, mustard, remaining 1 tablespoon vinegar, and remaining ¼ teaspoon salt together in large bowl. Whisking constantly, slowly drizzle in remaining 3 tablespoons oil until emulsified. Add endive, carrot greens, roasted carrots, pickled carrots, and grapefruit and toss to combine; season with salt and pepper to taste. Arrange salmon around edge of serving platter, then transfer salad to center of platter. Serve.