Pesto Carrot Salad

Potlucks are always great motivators to try out new salad recipes - economical, easy to transport and serve, and endless varieties! Hence the pesto carrot salad. I used the Grit Cookbook for this one and loved it; something about creating pesto with sugar for once was a marvelous spin on something so familiar. I also loved the vinaigrette that goes in the salad with the pesto, but all in all there was a lot of food processor activity to make one supposedly simple salad.

Pesto Carrot Salad
4 c. grated carrots
2 c. grated sweet potato (or 6 c. grated carrots in total)
2 Tbs fresh lemon juice
1/2 - 1 tsp salt

PESTO:
a small fistful of fresh basil leaves
3 Tbs parmesan
1/2 c. walnuts
1 1/2 tsp sugar
olive oil (I would try a bit of flax seed oil next time)

VINAIGRETTE: (cut this recipe in half to prepare enough dressing for the salad and have about 1 c. left over to use on other salads)
1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
2 Tbs each balsamic and red wine vinegar
1/4 c. water
1/4 c. minced red onion
3 garlic cloves minced
large pinch each: dried parsley, oregano, basil, thyme
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbs sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c. canola oil + 1/2 c. olive oil

I used my food processor to grate the carrots and sweet potato. Then just changed the blade and didn't bother rinsing before making the pesto. Ditto for switching between the pesto and vinaigrette making.

Grate the carrots and sweet potatoes. Place in a large bowl and mix in the lemon juice and salt.

For the pesto, blend everything except the oil until the nuts are ground fine. Then add the oil in a slow steady stream while the food processor is going until a smooth pesto is created. Add only half of the pesto into the grated carrots/sweet potatoes to start. Set the rest aside.

In the food processor, blend the vinegar though salt. Add the oil in a slow stream until the dressing is smooth and a bit thick. Take 1/3 c. of dressing and add it to the carrots/sweet potatoes. Stir and taste, adding more dressing or more pesto as desired. Chill in fridge for at least an hour before serving. You can save the rest of the dressing in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Note if you want the pesto to stay pretty and green on your carrots, blanch the basil leaves for about 30 sec before making the pesto. Thanks Cooks Illustrated for teaching me that trick!