Carrot Ribbons and Green Bean Salad
When kids are involved in meal prep, they learn that dinner isn’t something that just appears. They can help make it happen! And they can help clean up. (In AtoZ classes, dishwashing is just as important as the prep itself, if not quite as fun.) And when kids handle real adult instruments—with supervision, of course—and proudly produce food for the table, they build the confidence to learn how to do hard things.
There comes a point where kids are ready for more than imaginary play with velcro carrots. When that time comes, we give them just as much responsibility as they can handle, graduating from mixing and measuring to chopping and boiling. Safety doesn’t actually come third at AtoZ—but participation does come first.
Here’s a recipe that’s a hit during our kids’ summer cooking camp, and the whole family can enjoy together. Depending on their age, kids can help in all phases: snapping the ends off green beans; chopping the parsley; turning carrots into ribbons with a vegetable peeler; measuring dressing ingredients and tasting along the way to recommend changes. A little more salt? A dash more of maple syrup?
Carrot Ribbons and Green Bean Salad
Ingredients
FOR THE SALAD
- 1 pound green beans, trimmed
- Ice, for ice bath
- 1 bunch multicolored carrots
- 1 shallot or ½ red onion, thinly sliced into half-moons
- ¼ cup lemon-maple dressing (recipe follows)
- Flaky sea salt, to finish
FOR THE LEMON-MAPLE DRESSING
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Blanch green beans for 3 minutes, then drain and transfer to an ice bath.
- Peel the carrots. Using the same peeler, shave the carrots into long ribbons and place them in the ice bath.
Lemon-Maple Dressing
- To make the dressing, combine the lemon juice, mustard, salt, pepper, maple syrup and parsley in a Mason jar. Close the jar and shake well. Add half of the olive oil and shake again. Add the remaining oil and shake once more. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.
- Drain the green beans and carrots and place them in a large bowl. Add the shallot and dressing and toss well. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.
- Serve piled high in a shallow bowl, adding a sprinkle of flaky finishing salt to taste.
