OBSESSED WITH CARROTS! CARROT SALAD WITH PLAIN YOGURT | RAW NO-SUGAR CARROTCAKE BALLS

TGIF everyone! Once again it's been a while since I've been on the blog, but I caught the flu from some of my younger cousins and it's been two weeks of hell – I'm still trying to recover from it! It was the worst thing ever, my whole body was aching, I couldn't even lay in bed without pain and I thought I injured my ribs from coughing. Anyways, I've learned my lesson, I'll be making sure to get the flu shot every year from now on! 

So lately, I've been working hard and I haven't been able to really cook anything that is time consuming — more than 30 minutes is not happening anytime soon. Plus my husband and I decided to go on a diet, so to speak. I've been eagerly waiting and praying for the day he decides to go on a diet! He's not anywhere near overweight but as he's getting older he's starting to pick up the weight. He eats sooo much and because of him I put on a lot of weight. So thank GOD he finally cut me some slack and has finally decided to watch what he eats. Although we haven't really been the best at dieting because we are constantly looking for something to snack on — which isn't so bad as long as it's healthy. Lately I've been like bugs bunny because I'm obsessed with carrots and I have been making anything and everything with carrots! 

I will be sharing two of my favorite recipes with you; one is an appetizer and the other is a dessert. Please keep in mind that carrots are very healthy! If you are taking vitamin A pills, I'd say ditch them and stick to fresh crunchy carrots because they are a powerfood packed with vitamin A and have amazing health benefits from beautiful skin, cancer prevention and anti-aging. Of course everyone has probably heard that carrots are great for the eyes! They also prevent heart disease and stroke and also cleanse the body! So that said, here is two delicious recipes for you to snack on! 

FYI the first recipe is a Carrot Salad with yogurt. I'm Turkish and I eat plain yogurt with almost everything and I make my own yogurt because I'm picky when it comes to yogurt. I've found the best Organic Yogurt at Whole Foods. It's called White Mountain Organic Bulgarian Yogurt, once you taste this you won't go back to Greek yogurt — I guarantee! So I recommend you make this carrot salad with Bulgarian yogurt, if you can't find it, Plain Greek yogurt is fine.

CARROT SALAD WITH YOGURT

INGREDIENTS

serves 2 to 3 people 

4 cups of grated carrot

1-2 cups of plain yogurt, preferably whole milk yogurt

2 cloves of garlic, minced

5 tbsp olive oil

salt

fresh parsley or dill to top off

INSTRUCTIONS

• Peel and grate carrots. In a frying pan add in 2-4 tablespoons of olive oil and cook the carrots on medium heat for 5-7 minutes till carrots soften. Season with salt. Let cool for 10 minutes.

• Mince the garlic and combine it with the yogurt, you may need more than one cup of yogurt depending on how much grated carrots you have. You can add a tablespoon at a time, just make sure the consistency is not too watery.

• Season with salt.

• Combine the grated carrots with the garlic yogurt sauce. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Refrigerate and serve cold. Enjoy!

TIPS

• You may change the amount of garlic depending on how much you like garlic.

• Some like to add chopped walnuts to the salad, if you like walnuts and don't have any nut allergies feel free to add it to the salad.

• I always double or triple the recipe, so I can always have some in the fridge plus the longer it is in the fridge the tastier it becomes.

• Serve as a side dish, dip or just eat it as a snack

CARROT DELIGHTS

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup carrots (finely grated)
1/2 cup dates(10 dates) or raisins (if using dates, soak them in hot water for about 10 minutes
1/2 cup walnuts(optional)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ginger (dried)
1/8 tsp nutmeg (freshly grated if possible)
1/4 tsp lemon zest (optional)
1/2 cup coconut (unsweetened, shreds, for rolling)

INSTRUCTIONS

• Pulse the walnuts in a food processor until they are broken up a bit.

• Add the rest of the ingredients (except the coconut shreds)

• Process until everything is well combined.

• Pour coconut into a small bowl.

• Roll the dough into balls and then dip into the coconut.

• Place on a wax paper-lined plate and then into the refrigerator to set a bit. Enjoy!