Carrot Ginger Dressing

by Valerie on August 8, 2009 · 3 comments

  Update June 2010 on How This Blog Became Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free and Mostly Vegan – I had originally named this series the Detox Diet Diaries, but my experience with these changes in my diet, while incredibly positive, has made me decide I really do not like the concept of  a detox diet.   It is ironic in that the diet my naturopath put me on was incredibly helpful, and a year later, it has become clear I have non-Celiac gluten intolerance, as well as a strong dairy intolerance.  I continue to avoid all dairy and gluten, as well as other problematic foods such as corn, but have grown to really dislike the concept of “detox” – the term promotes the concept of a quick fix, which is just nonsensical.  I firmly believe that the vast improvements in my health are based on the long-term changes I made, and want my posts on the experience to convey this.    
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Background: The Detox Diet Diaries recounts my story of doing a detox diet for health reasons and to isolate food allergies which may have been a contributing factor to some of my health problems. This diet involves real food. I am not on the Master Cleanse, or Gwyneth Paltrow’s latest cleanse, or Oprah’s cleanse, nor are my posts on my diet a way to support their actions. As I explained in my background post, I am doing this under the care of a naturopathic doctor.

Carrot Ginger Dressing


Week 4 was when I stopped having the occasional bad day where I felt nauseous and/or headachy. Overall, I think I had about 3-4 days like that, spread over the course of almost a month. My energy level had continued to increase throughout those first three weeks of the detox diet, and Week 4 is when it kind of plateaued for a couple of weeks.

Weeks 3 and 4 was when I ate a lot of the Carrot Ginger dressing {recipe below} on various greens – I stumbled on this recipe on Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop website when I was searching for carrot ginger dressing recipes the first week of my detox diet {incidentally, so many recipes out there are laden with sugar, which makes little sense to me considering carrots bring sweetness to it} I made it the first day and then again a lot during weeks 3 and 4. Gwyneth Paltrow has several recipes up on Goop from her January detox – her menu plans look nothing like how I eat, and I am so not on board with “celebrity detox diets,” including hers, but that dressing is pretty good. Especially once I tweaked it.

Carrot Ginger Dressing
Adapted from Goop

2 large carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
1 large shallot, peeled and roughly chopped
2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh ginger
1 tablespoon sweet white miso
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon roasted sesame seed oil (I used plain sesame oil and it worked fine)
2-3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil or grapeseed oil
2 tablespoons water

In a food processor, pulse the carrot, shallot and ginger in a blender until finely chopped. Scrape down the sides, add the miso, vinegar and sesame seed oil and whiz together. Add the oil and the water, and whiz until you have desired consistency.

Note: this makes enough dressing for about 4-6 salads. It also freezes very nicely. I like it with pretty much any kind of dark greens, especially spinach and arugula. For a while I was topping the salad with avocado {as you can see on the picture} but eventually switched to steamed sole as it works very nicely with this dressing too. I also found that I prefer making the dressing about an hour before eating it as that gives the shallot time to mellow.
Disclaimer: I am just a regular person posting about my experience doing a detox diet for health reasons and, ultimately, to isolate food allergies that may be the underlying cause of said health problems. I am not a medical professional or nutritionist. Please do not use information from these posts to do your own detox diet. Rather, seek advice from a doctor, naturopath or nutritionist to determine what the correct course of action for your health is.

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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Melita August 10, 2009 at 1:23 pm

oh i love carrot ginger dressing! i love the goop site and gwyneth! i was just telling my boyfriend the other day that ever since i laid eyes on gwenny i fell in love with her. she has always been on of my favorite actresses and it's been amazing to see how she's grown with goop & touring spain with mario batali, etc.

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2 Kiki August 10, 2009 at 6:42 pm

This dressing is the #1 reason why I order bento boxes with salads in Japanese restaurants, and I've never been able to recreate it. Thank you for posting this – now I can get my fix at home!!!

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3 Sarah August 11, 2009 at 9:01 pm

Sounds delish! I will have to make this dressing!

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