This was my first time making or eating carrot raisin salad. Never had it growing up or served at holidays, but when I came across the recipe I figured I like all of those ingredients seperately so I'd probably like them as a salad. I was right. My kids liked it as well which is a rare occurence in our house. My husband didn't like it and said, "give me a carrot or give me some raisins, but don't put them together." I even made him a special portion with no pineapple or coconut, but still, he did not like it, oh-well.
Here is the recipe I used, it was posted on a little cooking board I love to frequent, and I was not dissapointed. There are bunches of variations all over the internet, but this one sounded great and I had all of the ingredients so I went with it.
3 cups shredded carrots
1/2 cup raisins
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup salted peanuts
lettuce leaves
Combine all ingredients except lettuce. Stir well, cover, and chill for 2 to 3 hours. Serve on lettuce leaves.
My changes were to add in an 8 oz. can of crushed pineapple. I started draining the pineapple juice into a measuring cup to get my 1/4 cup required for the dressing but then stopped and just dumped it all in. Perfect! For me, if it has coconut, why not add some pineapple? I love just about anything with pineapple or coconut, and especially love anything with pineapple and coconut :) Also I skipped serving it on lettuce leaves. It was just a quick lunch side for me and the kiddos.
My daughter said it was too crunchy, probably because of the peanuts, and I've seen variations with sliced almonds and also sunflower seeds so maybe I will switch the peanuts for one of those the next time and see how that goes. It seems like maybe the peanuts over powered a touch and the almonds or sunflower seeds would add a more 'delicate' crunch.
