We buy a lot of carrots.
I mean like 20 pounds a couple times a month. You’d think we’d have turned into little bunnies by now, hopping around, twitching our noses, being all cute and bouncy. The thing is, my husband believes in carrot juice.
Long before juicing was a thing my husband was peeling carrots by the fist full and methodically pushing them through the juicer to make quart-sized mason jars of fresh carrot juice. As far as I’ve been able to keep track, he believes carrot juice can……improve your eyesight, give you energy, cure a cold, inspire better dance moves, and up your sex appeal. Just a warning, but if you are within ear shot of my husband and you complain of an ailment he will no doubt offer you a glass of carrot juice….it’s magic……
I’m not saying that these health claims are unfounded, I’m just saying there might be a little placebo affect going on here. I think it all started when he was a little boy, around 5 or 6, and was running errands with his Aunt and Mom. They came to the predicament of having to parallel park and neither one of them was confident in their parking skills. Armando remembered from their many trips to Mexico that it was common practice to pay someone on the street a few coins to direct you into the parking spot. So being the helpful little boy that he was he hopped out of the car and tried to steer his Aunt into the tight spot. But he was 5, he had no idea how one would fit a car inbetween two other cars and pretty much waved his Aunt directly into the car behind her smashing that car’s bumper and her tail light. After some screaming and furrowed brows it was concluded that either there was something seriously wrong with this boy or he has really bad eyesight. Why else would he tell someone to back directly into another car?
It’s a winner. It’s got tiger’s blood and all that business. The crunch alone will blow your mind or at least give you an excellent mouth workout. We’re talking sweet carrots, roasted fennel seeds, salty sunflower kernels, and chewy raisins. Be lazy like me and run the carrots through the grating attachment on your food processor. If you’re husband’s like mine he might need extra carrots in his life….make him some slaw…..it might up his sex appeal.

Carrot Fennel Slaw
Adapted from Everyday Food
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large shallot, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 5 large carrots, grated
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Add shallot and cook until tender, about 2-3 minutes. Add fennel and cumin and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about a minute more. Remove from heat.
- Combine remaining ingredients in a large bowl, drizzle shallot mixture over, season with salt and pepper and toss to combine. Taste and add more salt or lime juice as needed.
- Carrot slaw will keep, covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 157Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 666mgCarbohydrates: 17gFiber: 3gSugar: 10gProtein: 3g
Carrots, fennel, and sunflower seeds? This is so up my alley!
I was thinking of you when I made it. I know how you feel about a good carrot salad….it’s the Frenchie in you!
I had carrots and a fennel bulb, so went looking for a slaw recipe and found this. I also had a large leek, so used that instead of the shallot and had anise seed instead of fennel seed. Shredded the fennel bulb and the carrots (with food processor, of course), and my hand grabbed the lemon instead of the lime out of the fridge. But everything worked out great, and I will make this salad again. Thanks!