Curried Carrot and Grain Salad with Lime Pickle Dressing
By OcadoLife
Published on 28 August 2026
This vegan Curried Carrot and Grain Salad with Lime Pickle Dressing from chef Esther Clarke is full of flavour and texture. It makes a great office lunch too, spread across four days of the week – just divide it among four containers and add the dressing just before eating. If you like, you can switch it up with a different protein each day to keep things interesting – try boiled eggs, a drizzle of yoghurt, chopped paneer or cooked chicken. Time and servings
45 minsTotal time
4Servings
25 minsPrep time
20 minsCooking time
Ingredients
- 500g carrots, halved lengthways (or cut into batons if large)
- 2 tsp nigella seeds
- 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli or mild chilli powder
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 2 tsp garam masala
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 35g lime pickle
- 1 heaped tsp soft brown sugar
- 2 (250g) pouches microwave rice and grains
- ½ lemon, juiced
- 100g roasted cashews, roughly chopped
- 15g fresh mint, leaves picked and finely chopped (some kept whole, to garnish)
- ½ cucumber, halved lengthways, seeds scraped out, then sliced
Method
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6. In a roasting tin, toss the carrots with the nigella seeds, chilli, turmeric, garam masala, 1 tbsp olive oil and a pinch of salt. Roast for 20 mins until tender and golden. Remove and leave to cool.Step 2
Meanwhile, for the dressing, blitz the lime pickle, soft brown sugar and 2 tbsp olive oil in a high-speed blender with 100ml water until smooth; season to taste.Step 3
Empty the grain pouches into a bowl and mix with the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil, the lemon juice, cashews and chopped mint. Top with the roasted carrots, sliced cucumber and reserved whole mint leaves. Add the dressing just before eating. The salad and dressing will keep chilled for up to 5 days.